


Bound By Blood

by The_Duchess_of_Fiction



Category: Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-18
Updated: 2013-07-16
Packaged: 2017-12-15 09:38:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 31
Words: 151,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/848031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Duchess_of_Fiction/pseuds/The_Duchess_of_Fiction
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Blood has the strongest magic of all, it can create because it destroys. It ties everything in life together. Nature always calls for balance. Some people call it Karma. Others call it God's wrath. We call it magic. For every reward, there is sacrifice. For every birth, death. For every beginning, an end." Who knew one bite could lead to all this?</p><p>Starts from 4x13- 4x14 canon then deviates.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Needing Each Other

**This was one of my first stories, originally posted of FF.net, now brought here. I’d love some criticism, leaving me to post the “pre-written” chapter earlier.**

**This is my first published story! I’ve been writing for the past three years, yet been too scared to publish. I have the first fifty pages planned out so please leave constructive criticism.**

**-xoxo Katarhyne**

Bound by Blood

**Chapter One: Needing Each other**

“If you don’t feed me your blood, I’ll die” Caroline rasped, looking so broken, so needy.

 My blood, she needed it. Her blood. I could still taste it, her gloriously sweet blood. If I didn’t have a heart, then I surely would have gotten a second taste.

But here I am. Aching to rush over to the girl, to take her in my arms, and beg for her forgiveness. I knew the moment when she told _Tyler –_ the mutt-to get her out of here, away from _me._  I broke. The heart I thought didn’t exist, broke. She hated me. She ,the person I needed so desperately, hated me.  I hate myself.

“Then die. And Tyler would have learned his lesson.” I hate myself for being so callous. She has no idea how much I want to give her my blood, yet somehow I can’t do it. A thousand years of revenge doesn’t all compassion.

“How could you do this to him? To his mother? To me?” my voice cracks a bit at “me.” He hurt me. He, the only person who had _never_  hurt me, who, as many times as I had betrayed him, used him, played him, had never hurt me. He had just smiled at me with those damn dimples and those puppy dog eyes. As though he knows whenever I show up, it’s not because I want to, it’s because I have to. Except I think there is a small part of me that wants to play distraction, wants to see the man that laughed with me over my stupid Miss Mystic application, the man that creates the most romantic drawing, the man who still has his humanity.

“I’m a thousand years old, love. Call it boredom.” Ah, yes that is what it was. Boredom. An excellent excuse I tell myself. Yet, I know it’s so much more than that. Caroline’s words, this silly little, perfectly radiance blonde’s words, caused me to go over the edge. The one person I thought could love me, the one person to prove my father wrong, didn’t think I was worth the calories it took for her to talk to me.

“I don’t believe you” I realize I know him. I know that he wasn’t bored or else he would have done this a long time ago. When was the last time he actually told himself, much less me, the truth.

“Well fine, love. Maybe it’s because simply I’m pure evil and can’t help myself” I say it with self -loathing. Because that’s what I am. Pure evil. A beast who can’t be loved.

“No.” He isn’t evil. Not purely. I’ve seen him be kind, be sweet, be romantic, be… Klaus. “It’s because you’re hurt.” _I_ hurt him. I hurt the beast. I hurt this broken man who hides behind such a monstrous façade because he believes that no one can ever see the good in him.

“And that there is a part of you that is still human.”

“How could you possibly think that?” I have spent a thousand years hiding my humanity. Humanity makes you weak. Feeling makes you weak. Caroline… makes me weak. How can she see that? I am a monster, someone who bit her without thinking twice. She should hate me. I hate myself.

“Because I’ve seen it.” When he came in that night, my birthday so long ago, and promised a whole world out there, just waiting for me. When he looked at me at his family’s ball, that look, I can’t forget it. When he showed me his art. When he saved me from Alaric, I had never felt more safe than to know that he was there. When he-as Tyler- saved me from the Council. When I angered him by distracting him, he didn’t rip me apart. When he teased me with my application, could a monster tease? No. This man had his humanity. He had a flicker of light in a sea of darkness.

“Because I’ve caught myself wishing I could forget all the horrible things you have done.” I wish I could forget all the people he had killed. I wish I could just see the man that teases me, that looks at me like I’m the only other person there. But, those horrible things are a part of him, just as my crimes are a part of me.

“But you can’t. Can you?” I say it as a statement, tears in my eyes. I was so close to having this light in my life. Yet, I had messed it up. I hate myself. I loathe myself.

“I know you’re in love with me.” The moment I say these words I know that they are true. He loves me. Klaus, the Original Hybrid, loves silly inconsequential me.  I’m too far gone from the poison not to say the next words. He needs to know. “And anyone capable of love is capable of being saved”

“You’re hallucinating” she can’t know the effect her words have on me. I am crying, wiping my face with my sleeves like some little boy, which in a way I am. Love. What a cruel joke fate has played on me, for _me_ ,of all people, to love.

“I guess I’ll never know.” I meant so much more than answering his question of hallucination. I meant that I’ll never know if he loves me or not. Loves me enough to save me. I’ll never know if I can forget all the horrible things he’s done. I think I can. But, I guess I’ll never know.

I let out one last breath. At least I told him the truth. I can die in peace.

“Caroline.” I breathe. Her light is fading. I had bitten her with the full intent of letting her die, not fully realizing who important she is to me. I can’t let my salvation die.

“Caroline.” I say with more urgency. She can’t die. No. She is not dead. Oh hell. I can’t let her die. I slowly pick her up and sit down behind her, biting into my wrist. I hold it up to her mouth and drip my blood into her mouth.  She doesn’t respond for a few minutes. But, when her fangs come down and she grips my wrist, I release a breath I didn’t know I had been holding.

He loves me. He loved me enough to put aside revenge, something that is at the core of his being, and heal me. He couldn’t let me die. I guess I will know if I can forget all the horrible things he’s done.

I love her. The man who couldn’t love, I love someone who won’t love me back. I am weak. Yet, I cannot bear to let this girl die. I love her.

 

Her blood in his veins. His blood in hers. They were forever entwined. Bound by blood.


	2. Caring

**I guess I'm going to post the large chunk today so I have a larger word count. I swear the chapters get longer.**

**Follow me on tumblr at swingklaroline or louoftherings or on FF.net at the Duchess of Fiction.**

**-xoxo Katarhyne**

Bound By Blood

**Chapter Two: Caring**

**Caroline POV:**

Some corner of my mind was awake, though I was still on the shores of sleep. I knew the chest I was nuzzled against did not belong to Tyler. I knew that I should be as far away as I can from the beast that is cradling me. Yet, I can’t seem to pull myself away.  No one has ever held me this way. Like I’m treasured. It feels so good to know that there is someone that puts me first.

The sad thing is, that someone is not my boyfriend. My boyfriend would put his pack before me. The man who everyone thinks is so evil, so heartless, had enough of a heart to put me first. He put _me_ before his need for revenge. At this thought, I snuggle closer into his rock-hard chest, slowly opening my eyes.

I stare at his boyish face. He doesn’t look like a killer. He doesn’t look like the broken man I know him to be. As he begins to stir under my gaze, I squeeze my eyes shut. I hear him sigh, exasperatedly, most likely at himself more than me, though he doesn’t get up.

Curiosity gets the better of me. I slowly open my eyes, seeing him stare at me with such raw emotion in his eyes.

Love, compassion, wonder… Yet also, self-loathing, and something I can’t put my finger on.

“Hi.” I squeak, looking up at him. Instead of responding he slowly gets up, picking me up with him. He places me on the couch and speeds back to the edge of barrier. Ugh, what is with him and human contact? This frustrates me, though I can’t get the feeling of how tenderly he picked me out of my head. I get up and straighten my clothes.  Then I look directly at him. He is staring at me as though I confuse him. I guess I do… I mean who cuddles with the guy that delivers the bite of death?

“Thank you.” I say, not knowing what else to say. Before he can open his mouth, my phone rings. I walk into the kitchen, my opportunity lost.

**Klaus POV**

"Tell me you're not serious," Caroline said, speaking to Elena, calling from that dreadful island. I honestly did not expect Caroline to be here when morning came. She should hate me. Yet, when she was awake in my arms she did not cringe in disgust, she thanked me. She fascinated me, confused me. Who says thank you to their would-be killer, who allows the monster to hold them?

"I wish I weren't. When we got back from looking for Jeremy, Shane and Bonnie were both gone too. Shane needs Bonnie to cast the spell on Jeremy's tattoo in order to find the cure, and he managed to sneak them both out from under our noses." The doppelganger says, filling Caroline in on her own personal soap opera.

"Well, where is Damon in all this?"  she responds, her thoughts almost connected with mine. Where was the doppleganger’s “devil with purpose?”

"We had an argument. I thought he was just taking a walk, but then when we went to the beach, we saw signs of a struggle.” I smirk, the man can’t even last in a fight. Though I wipe it from my face, when I see the distress in Caroline’s face.

"Meaning what?"

"Meaning somebody probably jumped him, and then grabbed him."

"Do you think Shane took him?" _That human?_ Caroline is brilliant, she should know better than to think that the weak professor could take a 150-year-old ass.

 

"No, I mean he's not strong enough to take Damon on; even with the element of surprise, he must have someone, or at least a few some ones helping him."

"God, I'm so sorry, I wish I was there to help."  No she doesn’t not really. When she says it, she looks straight at me. Though she could not say it out loud, she wants to be here with me.

"Well, maybe there is something you can do from home." Excellent. What does my former blood bag have planned now? Kill me too? Or burn my brother’s corpse?

"Anything! Tell me."

"So Shane's looking for the cure. We think we can find him. We have pictures of Jeremy's tattoo, but we just can't translate the map."

"Unless you get the Hunter's sword from Klaus." Well this conversation is taking the turn for the better, more time with Caroline, if she gets the sword. Not that I actually want to help my brother’s murderers, but I’m more than willing to help Caroline…

"Exactly."

"He'll never give up the sword." Oh, how little you know, Darling. She is staring at me now. I smirk at her,  making her think the complete opposite of my _true_ thoughts.

"Yeah, but if anyone's going get him to give it up, it's Caroline." I hear Stefan say in the background. Did everyone see it , but me? That I’m in love with her?

"He will never give up the sword, not even for Caroline. He's terrified we'll use the cure against him to make him mortal and even if he wasn't, he wouldn't want any of us to derive a moment's happiness from being human."  My sister says. She is partially right. Of course I’m terrified of being human again. Being human means I’m weak.

When I was human, I was at my father’s mercy. I remember the closest time I ever came to death. Though my father had tortured me, abused me, many times throughout my childhood, when he tried to drown me was the worst. I had been 8. My horse, Torsin, had gotten loose, and trampled Mother’s garden. When he found out, he grabbed me by my hair and took me to the Falls. He held me under until I went limp. I had been barely alive when he tossed me out of the water. Then, he left me there. I squeeze my eyes shut at the memory. I am not weak. My past is my past. I am strong. I turn back to Caroline’s conversation.

“Bye.” She looks at me, while grabbing her phone. I figure that I might as well offer some form of help, as she will just come back to me anyways.

"Need my help with anything, love?"

"Nope!" Rejected again. She’ll be back. I know it.


	3. Two as One

**Follow me on tumblr at swingklaroline or louoftherings, or on FF.net at The Duchess of Fiction**

**-xoxo Katarhyne**

Bound By Blood

**Chapter Three: Two as One**

**Klaus POV**

“It’s called a cryptex.” When she walked in with the mutt, I was enraged. Again, she was back to her old ways of ignoring me. Whenever the mutt is around it only ends up as one of us, or both, getting hurt. Yet this was why I liked her, unlike the Lockwood mutt, who doesn’t even notice her brilliance, who doesn’t even know what a damn crptex is, she is beautiful and brilliant. As she explains what it is to the silly mutt, I smirk. Why won’t he just stay out of _our_ way? She turns back to me

“And if you happen to want to help we wouldn’t stop you.” I smirk at her at the “we.” How much help would the football player be in languages? I however…

“Well, in that case I suggest you use the magic of the Internet to purchase an Aramaic to English Dictionary from your nearest retailer”

“What’s Aramaic?” Idiot. Before I get the pleasure to correct him, Caroline does.

“It’s a dead language. It hasn’t been used since, like, Biblical times.” Brilliant. I can say it a thousand times. He doesn’t deserve her. She doesn’t deserve this small town, she deserves the world. And though I don’t deserve this angel, can give her the world.

“Quetsiah’s native tongue. I’m guessing.” I’m not guessing. She’ll realize that she needs me to translate eventually no matter _how_ stubborn she is.

“You know even if you had the best dictionary in the world it could take days to translate sometime weeks.” I sigh, flopping in an armchair. Oh, how I wish I had weeks with her.

“In bus-sin-tu-ara-mi-ate.” I say, lucky she cannot speak Aramaic.  If she did, I’m sure she would have blushed. The phrase was a classic one. A line from an ancient poem, about a man and woman who couldn’t be together.

“What does that mean?” She asked me utterly confused. I was tempted to tell her, right in front of her little boyfriend, yet I resisted giving her a much more mysterious, teasing answer.

“If only you spoke Aramaic.”

**Caroline POV**

“Azeem-shi-da- a-sieeda-a-coonché. Requires a powerful witch and a hunter in full Bloom.” Klaus said. God, why did he have to speak it. Like he didn’t already sound sexy enough with his accent. Wait, did I just say sexy? I turn to Tyler almost guilty. I should not have these thoughts.

“What are you doing?” Tyler asks Klaus, suspicious. I want to slap him. He is helping us, moron!

“I don’t need to tell you my reasons. Caroline. Bring my sword over here.” Honestly? Why me? And can he turn down the sexual innuendos, I mean him speaking Aramaic was enough to make me drop my panties. What? Did I just think that? Ok maybe, I have thought about what I might be like to kiss Klaus, and maybe… do him. I mean a thousand years must have given him a lot of experience. Why am I thinking this? I bring the sword over to him. He stares at the markings, and then glances at the computer screen.

“Silas rests on the far side, the means of his destruction at hand. Turn the crptex to the right. Stop.” Wow. This is only taking him seconds. I can’t help but admire him. I mean I’ve dated every athlete ,yet secretly I’ve hoped for the guy to read me French poetry and debate Jane Austen with. I’ve hoped for a man to draw me, like Jack. I’ve hoped for a guy to stand in the rain for me. I’ve hoped for someone to wait for me. I constantly I’ve been wondering if I should just _try_ with Klaus.

“The top of hilt reveals a key to a nautical map.  Turn it to the left.” I follow his instructions. He is intensely focused on the crptex, though I’ve caught him peeking at me. I don’t know what I feel right now, yet I can almost feel that in this moment, we are one.

“Now turn the other piece, there’s something else.” He looks confused as he reads it. This brows crease in concentration, something that I somehow find adorable. Then his eyes pop open in discovery. Then he speaks, this time in that unbelievably sexy dead language.

“Aseem basiless- me- haada- a bess-me dooryna.” He is smirking now. I know that smirk. It means something very good for him. I wait for him to translate into English, yet it doesn’t come. I finally lose my patience.

“What does it mean? Klaus, what does it mean?!?” He merely raises his eyebrows in response. Ugh, this man infuriates me.

**Caroline and Klaus POV**

“You can’t kill Tyler” She comes into the room. I was expecting her. She was here to beg for the mutt’s life. How pathetic. He could not even show his face, he had to send her thinking she would make me weak. I scoff at myself, because it’s true.

“Not only can I, I have to. I have a reputation to uphold. Moreover I want to.” He doesn’t. Not really. He is forced into it. Sure Tyler hurt him, yet all he needs to do is _see._ See how much he would hurt me by killing him.

“I’m not asking you to forgive him. I’m only asking you to let him live. Somewhere far from here.” She is right. I won’t ever forgive him. I am not a creature of forgiveness. Yet, I’m tempted to let him live. For her. She believes that I am capable of being saved. Is this a test? Is this her way of seeing if I can change?

“So he gets to live a happy life after he turned all my hybrids against me. After he tried to kill me. After he made it his life’s mission to find the cure to use it against me” He stands up. I know that he is not wrong. Tyler acted like a monster. Making it his life mission to kill a man. He is not better than Klaus. I am not better than Klaus. The only difference is that we have people that love us.

“We all want the cure” She doesn’t. I can tell she is just trying to make excuses for the mutt. She likes who she is now.

“Do we? Do you?” He knows me better than anyone. Better than my friends, better than my boyfriend. He , the monster, is the only person who actually asked me if I wanted the cure.

“It doesn’t matter. There’s only one so it’s not like I’m going to get it anyway.” The heart I didn’t have breaks at this. All of the insecurities, all of her struggles summed up in two sentences.  Her parents put her second. Her friend put her second. Even all of her romances, she was never the first choice. She was always second. No wonder she found it so hard to believe that I fancied her. She is not used to love. _Like me._

“But if you could, you wouldn’t would you? You prefer who you are now to the girl you once were. You like being strong ageless fearless. We’re the same, Caroline” Why does he have to care? Why does he always have to be so right? So… him. I feel all the desire I’ve kept buried for him rise up to the surface.

“Then show me.” It happens. Neither knew who initiated it, yet neither pulled away.

His lips tasted better than she ever imagined. There was so much passion in that one. Perfect. Kiss.

Fireworks. How many months had he spent dreaming about this angel’s lips? After she had kissed him-as Tyler- he had only craved it more. Yet, how they were kissing, was so much more than how she kissed Tyler. While that kiss had been animalistic, this one had a sort of fire, that made the two of them one.

  
She had never kissed Tyler like that. Kissing Tyler was only a precursor to sex. Good sex, yet only _this_ kiss was so much more. It reminded her of all those movie kisses, perfect in passion, perfect in two hearts as one. 

They just stood there entwined, her hands clinging to his face, his twisted in her hair, as their lips met, again and again.

**Third Person POV**

The other hybrid was looking through the window at the couple. His eyes danced with an array of emotions, anger, hurt, betrayal. Like the pair, he could not pull away. He was as transfixed with horror as the couple was with emotions no one could even begin to comprehend.

**A/N:**

**I am so sorry I left it at such a cliffie!**

 

 


	4. Wolves

Bound By Blood

**Chapter Four: Wolves**

**Caroline POV**

When we finally surfaced, neither of us pulled away. We just stood there. Staring into the other’s eyes. I stared into his. They show so much emotion, a thousand years’ worth. There was so much pain, yet when he stared at me there was a trace of something else. Love? I hoped so. He unknit his hands from my hair and I whimper in protest, catching his right hand as it falls. I reach my other hand up to his face to carcass his cheek. He doesn’t pull away. Instead the broken man leans into my touch, with almost a hunger. As though I’ll never touch him again.

Our moment is broken by the door flying off its hinges. Literally.

Shit. _Tyler._ I thought. He must have seen or at the very least heard our entire exchange, and most likely, make-out. Damn that hybrid hearing.

“Wow Caroline. You haven’t changed at all.” Tyler said. He doesn’t sound like himself. No, he sounds like someone who has snapped. “You’re still a crazy, neurotic bitch, who sleeps with any guy who shows her an ounce of attention. Who else have you been sleeping with, _besides me_?”

His words hurt. My face falls and tears begin to well in my eyes. I never meant for Tyler to know all the _feelings_ I had about Klaus.

Klaus.

He withdraws his hand from mine and turns to Tyler, with a look of pure calm. That look scares me more than Tyler’s overwhelming anger.

“Well. _Tyler.”_ He says, stalking Tyler like prey. “You’re the one to be talking about sleeping around. You let the little were-slut stay in your home for your… personal uses.  And let’s not forget some of those girls that you …used… up in the Appalachians… You know, that pack had so many females.”

No. Tyler wouldn’t… Yet his look said it all. He was caught. And I was broken

I suddenly find my voice.

“For your information, _ass,_ I haven’t slept with anyone except you. Now I realize my mistake.” I say vehemently, “I was spending way too much time with a _boy_ instead of a man.”

He rushes at me at vampire speed. Before I knew what happened, I felt his fangs on my neck. Biting deeper and deeper into my flesh. He pulls off of me with a look of pyscotic anger, licking his lips. Then, his bones begin to crack.

“I am not even close to being done with you…” He tells me. I shrink away, the bite already throbbing. I turn to look at Klaus who probably making the fastest transformation I had ever seen.  He leaps into the air a final time and standing in his place is a wolf. A huge wolf, who is looking positively feral at Tyler. He still is in transformation.

Klaus growls. Tyler gnashes his teeth at him. The two wolves circle each other, stalking each other, trying to kill the other. I collapse, my vision already foggy. I need his blood. Through my haze, I see the blonde wolf biting the dark one’s leg. It yelps, and slashes the blonde’s shoulder. Blood drips out of both their wounds. Blood. Beautiful, necessary, crimson blood.

I must be hallucinating already.

Klaus. Tyler. They maul each other, both fighting for dominance. Klaus, bleeding from his shoulder and face pinning Tyler to the ground. Tyler considerably worse. Klaus growling at Tyler one final time. The blonde wolf turning to look at me with those old eyes. Those clear eyes that don’t change no matter what form he’s in. Those eyes that hold unspeakable pain and sadness.

The dark wolf is gone when the blonde turns to me. Out the door and gone. Running. He has an eternity to run from Klaus. I have little time left.

The remaining wolf lopes over to me and stares gravely at my wound. Then he does the oddest thing. Like a dog, he begins to lick the wound. He is drinking from me. Or is he licking the venom out?  Yet, I’m still dying.

I want to scream to him to give me his blood, but my lips don’t respond. I want to hold him in my arms, but they don’t move. He begins to heal, from my blood. Yet, it wasn’t like yesterday, where he bit me vengefully. He didn’t even use his fangs. I must be hallucinating.

I close my eyes, leaning into the sensations that my body is feeling. _That man._ Or wolf.

He stops. I moan in protest, not strong enough to open my eyes, yet strong enough to protest his halting. My nose begins to twitch, picking up that dire scent.

Blood. His blood. I fight to open my eyes, seeing him in front of me.

His neck. With animal instinct, animal desire. I latch onto it, ignoring the dripping wrist. He tastes like either my own personal heaven or my own personal hell.

I wrap my legs around him. I notice that he is wearing pants, thank god.

Moaning. The both of us. High on blood sharing and lust, I finally pull away from his neck and look into his eyes.

Crazed. That is the only way to describe them.  

Leaning in for another kiss, another voice adds to the mix,

“Wow Nik. Finally getting laid are we?” Klaus turns around with me still on his hips. Standing there is a man who should be dead, a man whose corpse I cover personally, a man whose body was charred beyond repair.

Klaus was wide eyes, stunned. He attempted to open his mouth to speak several times only getting gasping breath. The third time he was finally able to speak.

“Kol?”

 

**A/N: I am so sorry to leave it at another cliffie…**


	5. Remembrance

Bound by Blood

**Chapter 5: Remembrance**

**Klaus POV**

“Hello big brother, miss me? Apparently not since you were about to get it on with the baby vamp right in front of my corpse.” My dead brother walks towards me, perfectly at ease, teasing me as though nothing had ever happened. I was unsure whether to cry because my brother was alive or scream because I knew something awful had happened on that island.

I realize I still have Caroline on my hips, almost stuck there in shock, not that I minded. It felt so right with her on my hips, her body fitting perfectly to mine.

Focus, I told myself. Kol. Your brother. Alive. Yet my brain refuses to believe it.

“How?” I finally manage to spit out. My insufferable brother only smirks.

“Well Nik, apparently since you didn’t kill the doppelganger and her idiotic hunter of a brother, they have chosen to awaken our destruction. Nice knowing you.” He winks, striding into the room and throwing himself down on the couch.

“What do you mean?” Caroline says, sliding down from my hips. I grunt in protest, though knowing that we couldn’t hold this incriminating position for long. Not when my horny ass of a brother was watching.

“Well, well, well. Weren’t the little blonde that walked out on my brother _sooo many times_? My, how things change…” He was just doing this to rile me up, I know it. Yet, I still growl at him.

“Alright brother. No need to get your paintbrush in a bunch.” I despise when he acts this way, always trying to anger me. Not that I am unhappy he is alive, I am merely annoyed at my younger brother. My only younger brother.

As though his resurrection had taken me back to another time, I found myself remembering Hendrik.

He had been so young, so innocent. Yet, he had a bit of all of us in him.

He had Elijah’s good sense, and at that time, long hair.

He had Finn’s stoic nature, and most of all Mother’s love.

He had Kol’s laugh, his voice, and sense of fun.

He had Rebekah’s caring.

He had my eyes, and sadly, my artistic talent. After he… passed. I found some of his drawings. They had so much more light in them, so unlike mine. I still have them, locked away. They are reminders, like the love letters I keep, of the humanity I lost that night. That night I led my brother to his grave.

I tried to focus on what Kol was saying. I couldn’t focus on it. All I could see was the brother that couldn’t, no, wouldn’t come back.

“Nik, Nik, NIK. Pay attention!” my little brother was screaming in my face now, probably ranting at me for having a role in the plot to kill him. I couldn’t focus.

I turn to Caroline and look her in the eyes. She looks as stunned as I was. As she looked at me her expression changed, putting a hand on my shoulder and turning to Kol. She understood me. She knew what I was feeling. She knew exactly what I needed from her.

“Kol.” She said quietly. If I recall, she never had actually spoken to my brother before, though she said it with such quiet authority that he immediately stopped his insufferable rambling. “He’s been through a lot. He watched you _die._ He was trapped in here staring at your corpse for _days_.”

My brother looks at me, his eyes no longer dancing with mirth. He has been twenty for a thousand years, hiding behind his immature façade. Yet, he was still my brother. He knew what I was thinking.

All of us remember the night. Regret the night. Understanding passed between our eyes, blue on blue. _Hendrik_. We silently grieved as one.

As Kol gets up, I know our moment of brotherly compassion is over. Once again, he has that mirth dancing in his eyes, their fire back.  

“Come on, let’s get you home.” He says quietly, getting up with me. Caroline does as well, seeing fully intent on coming with me. Not that I mind. I cross the barrier with ease, much to my surprise. Spinning around to look at Caroline, we share a look of stunned surprise and dread.

Finally finding my voice, I speak, “I fear something terrible has befallen your friend Bonnie.” She looks at me in fear before I speed away behind my brother, judging by the sounds, she follows me.

\--------------------------------------------------------------Bound by Blood-------------------------------------------------------

**Caroline POV**

I reach the mansion, looking dark and foreboding, like a place I should run from. I’ve ran from here before. The night of the ball. I enter into the same foyer. A grand ballroom that is now empty. Like the phantoms, I can almost hear the music playing, I can almost see the dancers twirling about, I can almost smell the electricity between Klaus and me when we danced. Or maybe that’s just how I feel now.

I boldly take a step, striking past the imposing room, and into the more comfortable, but to less grand, rooms beyond. Pushing open a door, I see Klaus standing there, dressed in one of his paint stained Henley’s. I find it extremely sexy. I mean who hasn’t had dreams about artists? They are just so…

My slightly perverted fantasy is interrupted by the very man they were about.

“Drink, love?” He asks, raising his eyebrows while offering me a wine glass. I smell it, seeming to be wine with a hint to blood.

“Are you ok?” I ask, taking the glass. He smirks at me.

“Perfectly fine. Just watched my brother come back from the dead, that’s all.”

“ _Klaus.”_

“Caroline.” He elongates my name, saying it in my exact same tone. God, he is such a tease.

“You are not ok. I’ve never seen you like this.” His mask drops, again I see the scared, broken man I only get glimpses of.

“You haven’t seen a lot of sides to me love.” He says quietly. In that moment the mood shifts from light-hearted to that unbearable sexual tension that we had been trying so hard to relieve.

“And I want to see every one of them.” I start messing with the buttons on his shirt. We both know where this is going. I want it. He wants it. We both want it.

He needs no more confirmation. Between the kiss and the blood sharing, I was surprised that this hadn’t happened right on Elena’s floor. Yet, this was better. He leaned in, a kiss rough with passion. I reciprocate, our tongues dancing for dominance.

He crashes us into a wall, pressing me closer and closer to it. I moan and he begins to nibble at my neck, using his human teeth, not his hybrid ones. When I can’t take anymore, I rip off his shirt, he pulls back, a wild, boyish look on his face.

“Well love, if we are going to play _that_ game.” He grabs me again, teasing my lips as he slowly slides off my jacket. As soon as my arms are free, my hands tangle in his curls. He starts to work his way down my neck, nibbling as he goes. I bring my legs up to hold at his waist, barely able to control myself from ripping off his pants.

I wiggle a bit and he stumbles from out place locked against the wall, falling back a bit towards the couch. Our lips meet again, as we fall back on the couch, him below me.

I smile at him coquettishly through the kisses, pulling back and grinning down at him.

“Take me upstairs?” He smirks wolfishly up at me, and flips us, me now under him. Then grabbing me, he speeds us up the stairs and through a door. He throws me on a massive bed, ripping my dress.

“Sorry?” he says unapologetically. I wrap my arms around him pulling him down with me.

**You like? Leave a review!**


	6. The Artist's Eyes

**Sorry, but this chappie starts out with Caroline’s POV as well. Also, did anyone pick up on the Anastasia reference in the last chapter?**

**-xoxo Katarhyne**

Bound By Blood

**Chapter 6: The Artist’s Eyes**

_I love you as certain dark things are to be loved…_

_I love you as the plant that never blooms_

_but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;_

_thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,_

_risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body._

_I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where._

_I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;_

_so I love you because I know no other way_

_than this: where I does not exist, nor you,_

_so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,_

_so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep._

_\--Sonnet XVII, Pablo Neruda_

**Caroline POV**

“I could get used to this.” I mumble into the muscular chest that is currently my pillow.

“Get used to what love?” Opening my eyes, twisting my head upward, staring at the man smirking down at me, I answer.

“You. Us. Last night.” I say the last words with a teasing tone, brightly smiling up at him. He strokes my hair in return, his expression suddenly changed to one of uncertainty.

“Really? You don’t have any… regrets” He says quietly, the last part barely heard, as though he fears my next words. He is scared of all this, inexperienced. I want him to know that he should not fear this. He shouldn’t fear me… He can’t fear love.

“Of course not. Tyler is a close chapter in my life. This is just the beginning of another one.”

His look of fear drops at my words, replaced by a boyish smile. I like this side of him I thought, as he reaches over to the side table to grab something. A sketchbook, open to a half-finished sketch of a woman sleeping. Me sleeping.  He wordlessly hands me the book, which I flip to the cover of the book, which is at near destruction, covered in colors and hanging my the seams.

Opening the book, the first thing I see is me. My face entirely fills up a whole page, while opposite are several of pairs of lips, mine no doubt.

Turning the pages faster and faster, I see more scenes. Me, broken from Tyler’s bite. Me, walking into the ball. Me, dancing in a faceless man’s arms. Me, at the grill, defiant. Me, as a flapper. Me.

The more recent ones. I don’t know what to make of them. Some were abstract, like one where only my eyes were visible in a sea of darkness. Some brought a smile to my face, like one where I was reaching for a piece of paper –my Miss Mystic application.

The last two before the drawing of me sleeping took the cake. It was the first time Klaus appeared in his own sketch book. The first, I was feeding. On him. I look positively evil, yet he still puts a halo of light around my head. He however is looking down on me with a curious expression, self-loathing. The second fills the full page, containing only our profiles. Our lips locked, eyes closed, we both have halos, mine of light, his of dark. Was this how he saw us? Was this how he saw me?

I was stunned. Looking up, I see him studying me.

“Klaus…” I say, stunned.

“Appreciate my stalking, love?” I rush at him in response, planting a kiss on his lips. No one has ever drawn me. No one has ever taken the time. No one has ever cared enough, or loved me enough. He ,however, had drawn me thousands of times. Even after I had betrayed him again and again, he still drew me in this light.

It was a chaste kiss, a thank you of sorts, to express all the emotions I couldn’t put into words. We continue, emotions being sent back and front. His communicates understanding and thanks. Thanks for _my_ understanding, thanks for me being here, thanks for me. Mine tells him love, compassion, and anything and everything that can’t be named.  I break the kiss when I start feeling light-headed.

Dammit. Bloodlust.

He looks at me confused, until I explain.

“Do you have any blood bags?” I spill out, hoping that he had some. I didn’t do live food.

“I believe I have some in the kitchen… Coming love?” He says ,getting up. I raise my eyebrows at him. There is no way in hell I am going downstairs _naked_ when I know his brother is here. That’s just… wrong. He smirks realizing my predicament merely from my expression, and walks over to a large wardrobe. He rustles around for a minute, throwing out jeans for himself , no doubt. I creep over to a bureau and pull open a drawer as he is submerged in the wardrobe. It’s lined with pairs of boxers, all but a few wore. I knew it! I thought to myself, smiling at the thought of him going commando. I grab a pair of blue ones, as go underwear hunting through the room, fairly certain that they were not ripped off, like my dress and bra.

Finding them under Klaus’s jeans, I grab them and turn around to find him offering me one of his Oxfords. I wordlessly take it, and slip it on. It’s a bit… ok extremely big on me, but I like doing this. There is something so… romantic about the woman wearing a man’s clothes after a night of passion.

“M’lady.” He has the door held for me in an extravagant bow that makes me giggle. I curtsy to him , moving past him, down the stairs. I stop at the foot, not knowing exactly where to go.

Turning around, he’s already behind me, leading me away.

\--------------------------------------------------------------Bound by Blood-------------------------------------------------------

When we reach the kitchen, there’s no one there, surprisingly. His brother must be dining on the local residences. I shudder to think of it. Being fed on is not fun. Well as a human at least.

I turn to Klaus, who has his head stuck in the fridge. It’s odd to see him so… domestic. I mean who would have thought a thousand year old hybrid, self- claimed most powerful creature on earth, would do something so simple.

He hands me a blood bag, holding one for himself. I turn it around to look at the label. B positive. My favorite.

“How did you know?” I ask, curious on how he knows just about everything about me.

“Know what love?”

“My favorite type.”

“Lucky guess?” Yeah right. This is the man who spent six months drawing me. No way did he not know my favorite type. Suddenly feeling selfish, I realize I don’t know a lot about him.

Almost on impulse, I ask, “What’s yours?”

“B negative.” He says, holding up and waving the blood bag. “Cheers?” holding up his questioningly.

“Cheers.” I raise mine to my mouth, but before I could sit the door bangs open, and I hear not one- but two very familiar voices.

“Elijah, can you not control your whore?” I heard the _other_ blonde vampire whine.

Oh shit. I thought to myself, draining the bad. I was going to need it.

**A/N: Yay! All the Originals are back! This chapter was absolute fluff so I promise that the next one will have more content.**

 


	7. Reunion

 

Bound By Blood

**Chapter 7: Reunion**

_I have led her home, my love, my only friend,_

_There is none like her, none._

_And never yet so warmly ran my blood_

_And sweetly, on and on_

_Calming itself to the long-wished-for end,_

_Full to the banks, close on the promised good._

_-_ _Maud XVIII, Lord Alfred Tennyson_

**Caroline POV**

The other blonde vampire stalked into the room, not noticing me or Klaus in the corner at first. Rebekah is not stupid. She first notices Klaus, then me.

 “Well, well, well Nik. Couldn’t stay trapped for long now could you?” she say, smirking at him. Then turning to me, “Hello Caroline. I assume by your attire that you spent the night?” She doesn’t say with as much malice as she normally would. There is something off about her. She isn’t her normal bitchy self.

“What do you want Bekah?” Klaus whines, sipping from his blood bag. Ugh, why did he have to look so unbelievably sexy? It was not helping that he was shirtless, or that his jeans hung low exposing the god damn v line.

“Well, I _wanted_ the cure, but since Elijah can’t control his little whore, no one has it.” Klaus stopped drinking immediately, processing who exactly had the cure. Someone who had it out for him.

At that moment, the elder of the Mikealson brothers strode into the room. Elijah, always looking dapper and suave in his suits, stared at me. I felt uncomfortable, feeling completely underdressed, and squirmed. I dropped his gaze, grabbing Klaus’s unfinished blood bag as he eye spared with Rebekah.

“Miss Forbes. This is a… interesting surprise.” He said greeting me.

“Welcome back to the soap opera known as Mystic Falls.” I drawl, “Where have you been instead of controlling your crazy ass siblings?” Rebekah smiles at my comment, obviously thinking of her own addition, while Klaus is still in deep thought.

“I see you have the department of my brother covered.” My face feels hot. Underneath all his formality, he was just like his brothers. Teasing. And most likely a bit psychotic. Or deranged. Or in Klaus’s case, broken.

All of them are really, who stays alive for a thousand years without losing _some_ of their humanity along the way. They hadn’t had a support group when they were transitioning like most of us did. Well, most except for me. Klaus had some serious mommy and daddy issues. I wonder if his siblings had the same. I wanted to find out more from him. I knew so little about their lives, yet he seemed to know everything about mine…

Klaus stands up, understanding shining in his eyes, as he realized exactly which Petrova bitch had the cure. And it was not Elena.

“Elijah. What exactly happened to “keeping an eye” on Katherine? Or did she convince you over pillow talk that it was a _good_ idea to let her go?” He wasn’t as mindlessly enrages as he was when he attacked Tyler, yet there was still that dangerous, calm tone that sent shivers done my spine. Or maybe that was his accent.

I hear laughter coming from the entryway. Rebekah and Elijah’s eyes go wide at the sight of their dead brother laughing at them. While Elijah is sucking up tears, Rebekah cries out, rushing to her brother, in a mess of tears.

Clinging to him, and making a mess of his jacket, she mutters, “Your supposed to be dead.” Elijah loses his resolve at that, running to his brother and hugging him as though his life depended on it.

Klaus just stands there, smiling, without malice, without any ulterior motive. This is all he really wanted. Family. Kol’s voice pipes out of the hug, “Niklaus, stop being all high and mighty and get your ass in here. I see tears in your eyes, don’t you lie to me.”

Begrudging, though none the less, Klaus joins the weird, loving Original hug. I can’t help myself. I’m grinning as I slip out my phone and snap a quick picture when no one is looking. Something to show them later.

The moment is over as soon as it began. Rebekah smacked Klaus on the side of his head. Rubbing it, he said a wounded tone , “What was that for?” He was obviously faking it, yet I still walk over to him, placing a hand on his head.

“You knew! You knew that he was alive, yet you didn’t even think to tell us!” She was between laughing and crying.

Kol pulls out of the fridge with a blood bag, answering his near-hysterical sister,

“I’m sure Nik was _going_ to tell you, except he decided that the lovely Miss Forbes needed to be dealt with immediately. Honestly, could you two have been a bit quieter? I could hear you in the _other wing._ ”

I blush. I didn’t that he could hear us, or that he was going to tell the whole world. But, this was the Original version of Damon Salvatore and well… Dicks can’t keep secrets.

“Well at least _I’m_ getting some. Unlike a certain brother who hasn’t stopped talking about a certain witch since he came to town.” Klaus retorts.

My jaw drops. Is he talking about… _Bonnie?_ No fucking way. I laugh out loud, unable to control myself. Kol looks at me, trying to look deadly, though he comes across as a spoiled child.

“Something funny?”

“Yes! It’s _Bonnie._ She ,like, hates vampires.”

“You’re a vampire.” He must have been dropped on his head as a child. Or maybe a century in a coffin rotted his brain.

“Nooo.” I say sarcastically, “I just like drinking blood.”

“You are friends with her.”

“Yes. But…” He cuts me, speaking over me.

“No butts… Except for Nik’s. She is friends with vampires. So she would not … hinder my advances.” He walks out of the room, clearly done with the conversation. Though Rebekah yells behind him.

“Hate to me the downer here, but Kol … She’s a witch, so she had toast your ass, not to mention your brain. You killed that Shane guy, who she likes. And let’s not forget all the drama with the Gilbert boy, who she watched die.”

He turns around, and makes a face at his sister, walking back into the room and plopping down at the kitchen table. He puts his boots up on it, yet one look from Elijah sends his to the floor. We all are silent, sipping on blood bags, until the house phone begins to ring. They all rush to it, arguing.

Ugh, how am I stuck to be the babysitter. I snatch the phone from Kol’s hands, giving it to Rebekah. She answers it,

“Hello? Ah, Bonnie. How lovely to hear you alive.” She walks into the other room, shooing Elijah away from the receiver. I hiss to the remaining Originals in front of me.

“Klaus, you’re still supposed to be locked up at Elena’s. Elijah, no one knows your back yet. And KOL! You’re dead for god’s sake.” They all nod, like school boy receiving a scolding. We concentrate on Rebekah conversation.

“So, you woke up Silas. End of the world right?”

“Not exactly, if we can convince Katherine to hand over the Cure then we can end _him._ ”

“And why are you telling me this? I thought you would just abandon me after I gave up the bloody tombstone.”

“We need your brothers.” I heard a Salvatore-Elena argument going in the background, probably about this “help.”

Rebekah smirked, enjoying the role that she was about to play.

“Which one? Oh wait, I only have two now, since you just killed of another one! Do you need to kill another as a “sacrifice of the doppelganger?” She said it with such malice in her voice that I almost believed had I not been looking at Kol.

“No. We need Elijah. Katherine was in love him ,so he might be our best bed in luring her out.”

“Why don’t you use one of the Salvatores? I’m sure she wanted to get into her pants just as much as my brothers.”

“They are… incapable of doing that at the moment. Anyways, can he make it?”

“You are in luck. He almost here, I believe, to bury another brother.”

“Good. Meet at Boarding House in say an hour?” Yells erupt in the background, and the line goes dead.

She looks up at us, knowing that we had been listening. Wordlessly taking my hand, she leads me upstairs.

“Now where do you think you’re going?” Klaus calls, still standing there shirtless.

“Well Nik, as much as you would like it, she can’t exactly visit her friends in your clothes. Come on Caroline, I probably have _something_ for you to wear.” I could hear Klaus’s frustrated huff from here as Rebekah leads me to her room.

Wondering what she is intending, I decide something. She isn’t all bad, as I’ve come to notice about everyone, vampire or human. She’s just lonely. I decide to give her a chance. Maybe she just needs a friend.

 


	8. Inquisition

Bound By Blood

**Chapter 8: Inquisition**

_From childhood's hour I have not been_

_As others were; I have not seen_

_As others saw; I could not bring_

_My passions from a common spring._

_From the same source I have not taken_

_My sorrow; I could not awaken_

_My heart to joy at the same tone;_

_And all I loved, I loved alone._

_Then- in my childhood, in the dawn_

_Of a most stormy life- was drawn_

_From every depth of good and ill_

_The mystery which binds me still:_

_From the torrent, or the fountain,_

_From the red cliff of the mountain,_

_From the sun that round me rolled_

_In its autumn tint of gold,_

_From the lightning in the sky_

_As it passed me flying by,_

_From the thunder and the storm,_

_And the cloud that took the form_

_(When the rest of Heaven was blue)_

_Of a demon in my view._

_-Edgar Allan Poe, Alone_

**Klaus POV**

After my sister led Caroline upstairs, I retreated into my studio. Art allows helped me grounded in my large family. It kept me out of the way, and provided an escape, I could go off into the woods and sketch, hiding from Father. Yet, it was mostly a way to forget my miserable existence.

When I turned, I was able to learn how to use paints. The colors were wonders to my eyes, a singing melody I heard every time I took a stroke. Throughout my thousand years, that had stayed the same.

Of course there were always pesky siblings to interrupt my peace. I had just started the outline for the painting, which was based off that sketch of Caroline and I, kissing, when my brothers walked in.

I turn, raising an irritated eye brow at them. Elijah shrugs it off, sitting carefully on an armchair, while Kol, with a glass of bourbon in hand, flops unceremoniously on the couch. I put my brush down, and speak.

“Bourbon before breakfast?” gesturing to the glass.

“With all this family in the house, I need a drink. Not to mention that pretty little blonde distraction that I saw first thing this morning.” Kol replies.

“And in your clothes, no less.” Elijah adds in. So this is why they were in here. Not to enjoy brotherly company, but interrogate me. I huff, needing a drink.

“So… When did this occur, dear brother? Or have you been sleeping with her for quite a while and we just finally caught you?”

“It is none of your business, what I or Caroline do.” I reply through gritted teeth. I was victim to a famous Mikealson inquisition, ones that I am usually a part of. There are no escapes from this…

“Well, since you are _our_ brother, I believe it is.” Elijah says, in his cool tone. Realizing I was not going to win, I stretch out defiantly on the couch, pushing Kol into the corner. He smacks my legs, yet I only kick him in response.

Elijah gives us a look, saying one word “children.” Giving him one final kick in his royal ass, I answer my brother, choosing my words carefully.

“I like Caroline. And because of… recent developments, I believe she might reciprocate the… feelings.”

Their faces crease, troubled at my words. Kol decides to make light of the situation however, with calling out my use of that dreaded words.

“Ohhh… Is little Nik finally _in love?_ A little blonde baby vamp has got my all powerful brother at her feet. Well this takes the goddamn supernatural cake.” He teases. Elijah’s smiling as well. I make a growling sound, offended at my brother’s annoying, yet true words.

I slam my glass on the coffee table and get up, turning back to my painting. It’s a huge canvas, with the outline already drawn on. Her on the left, me on the right. Light on the left, dark on the right.

I can almost feel my brothers’ eyes boring into me as I mix the exact color of her hair. Placing the brush on the canvas, I make each strand a different color that any other.  She _has_ to be perfect in this. Because she is in reality.

We all are quiet for a while. Me painting, Kol drinking, Elijah watching. The silence only interrupted by the sound of the brush on the canvas and the clink of glasses. It has a strange domestic serenity to it that I haven’t felt in a while. Maybe because we haven’t been a family in a while.

Elijah finally breaks the ice.

“I’ve seen your sketchbook.” I turn around giving him a dangerous look. He should that is for my eyes, and my eyes _only_. No pesky sibling eyes. He continues anyways.

“You really do love her.” He states. Not a question, he states that it’s true. I look up at the painting before answering.

“I think I do…” I almost whisper, hardly believing it myself.

**Caroline POV**

“I used to hate you, you know.” I heard Rebekah say, from the depths of her closet. I had already known that for quite a while, yet her use of past tense was new. Why didn’t she hate me _anymore?_ I voiced my thoughts,

“Why the past tense?”

“Well… You’re not as bad as I thought. And kept my brother from killing me, so that’s a defiant plus.” She said, coming out of the closet with a pile of outfits. I smile, seeing the pile. “And you’re not trying to steal Stefan from me. Are you?” She says throwing the outfits on the bed with a grunt, saying the last part almost dangerously.

“I’m not a doppelganger. I can merely get one guy.” I said answering her question. Looking at me gratefully, she sorts the stack into two piles. Holding up the first jacket, I shake my head almost without thought. I get up, and look through the pile. Pulling out a pair of green pants, I hold them out to her. When she makes a face, I say,

“Stefan likes green.” She immediately takes them, holding them up with a jacket. I nob my head, giving her a white blouse as well. She smiles a thank you. I don’t think she’s ever actually done this before. She is dreadfully awkward, but I’ll just have to work on that.

 I turn to my own pile of clothes. The first thing that catches my eyes is a white leather jacket. Instead of normal studs, there are huge pearls sewn on the shoulders. I pick it up, and look at Rebekah. She nods her approval.

“Nik bought that for me in Paris. I’ve never wore it.” She said, shuffling through the pile looking for something. She pulls out a navy dress. It’s short and sweet, defiantly my style. It has fringe all over it, and dips to show just the right amount of cleavage. I grin. Maybe we could be friends. We obviously had the same taste in clothes.

After getting dressed, she leads me into the bathroom, where a treasure trove of make-up is laid out. Yup, defiantly my style. I quickly look over the eye shadows, selecting a few. As I begin my eyes, I finally speak.

“So… you really do like Stefan?”

She looks me, her signature bitch please face, one that all her siblings seemed to have.

“And you really do like my brother?”

“Fine…” I finally say, knowing it would be best to get this out of the way now, rather than later. Rebekah was protective of her brothers to the point of vicious, I needed to tread carefully here.

“At first, I didn’t know what I felt for Klaus. I should have hated him, thought he was evil. But, when he saved me, he showed me that there is always something to live for. He saved my life, both physically and metaphorically. At the ball, I should have thought he was a dick, and in the end I did call him one, but he was so… genuine, like he was happy I was there. No one had ever treated me that way.” I say quieter now, she’s listening, understanding in her eyes. She knows this song too well.

“And the more I played distraction for him, the worse I felt. Like he wasn’t all bad, like he actually cared about me. And every time he saved me, I felt my defenses go down a bit more.” I was no longer talking really for Rebekah, I was talking for myself. I had never been able to say this out loud. I probably wouldn’t get the chance again. I mean my friends were going to hate me. I knew it. I was going to be as alone as Rebekah when they found out. I let out a sigh and continue.

“When he was trapped there, when he chose me over revenge, it was the final straw. I just couldn’t take it anymore. Everyone else had abandoned me, except him. When I kissed him, it just felt… right. He protected me. He is the only person who cared enough to even ask me if I wanted the goddamn cure. He doesn’t put me second.”

She takes my hand, wordlessly, understanding and sadness in her eyes. I wonder about her, how did she relate to this? When suddenly I realize it, she as always second in love. She had never found anyone to put her first. I squeeze her hand in reassurance. She finally speaks,

“Welcome to the family”

Maybe we could be friends.


	9. Daylight

Bound By Blood

**Chapter 9: Daylight**

_"Deep down even the most hardened criminal is starving for the same thing that motivates the innocent baby: Love and acceptance." -Lily Fairchilde_ __  
  


**Caroline POV**

The Originals went to war of the littlest things. When I walked down the stairs, Klaus nearly murdered Kol for checking out my ass. Only thing that stopped him was Elijah smacking both of them on the back of their heads. Has he been dealing with this for a thousand years? By his exasperated expression, he had.

The garage had probably 10 cars, though Klaus headed for the SUV. Kol was already in the driver’s seat.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Klaus asked opening the door. Elijah walks over as well, already preparing to break the fight up.

“Why, I’m driving?” Kol said with mock confusion. I doubted that he even had a license, much less actually knew _how_ to drive a car. Klaus hauls him out of the seat, grumbling.

“You don’t have a license, and there is no way in _hell_ I am letting you drive _my_ car.” He turns around only to find Elijah behind the wheel. Muttering something about obnoxious sibling and hauls him out of the seat as well. What is with men and cars? You’d think a thousand years without them would be good enough.  While the brothers engaged in play fighting, Rebekah and I shared an eyeroll. She climbed into the back while I went to the passenger seat, knowing that Klaus was going to drive. His Alpha Male complex wouldn’t allow it any other way.

Finally, everyone was in the car, and Klaus, obviously showing off, accelerated down the driveway, and out onto the main road. He smirked back at his siblings, saying,

“See I told you I was a better driver.”

Rebekah retorted, “Better does not mean faster Nik. Better means not endangering the passengers lives.”

He shrugged, “Kol would do it either way, I just know how to stop at a red light.”

Elijah rolled his eyes. I smile to myself. It was weird seeing the Original Family act so… normal. Klaus turns back around as the light goes green. We turn onto one of the main roads, when the sound of some horribly offensive rap song blares through the speakers. Klaus and I whip around, looking for the source of the Kanye now blasting. Kol.

The insufferable little Original has his damn iPod plugged up to the speakers. We all glare daggers at him, Elijah I think the most. His music taste is obviously Bach and Beethoven. Rebekah snatches the  cord, slamming in her own iPhone. Her brothers look at her curiously as she chooses a song.

The sound of Ed Sheeran comes blasting through speakers. All of us, except Rebekah, of course freeze up at the song choice. All for different reasons. This was the dance song. The song at the ball.

“Well this is awkward.” Kol finally says, breaking the ice. “So song change!” He plugs his iPod in again, blaring the offensive rap.  Elijah glares at him, while Klaus grips the steering wheel tighter, obviously frustrated.

I slam in Rebekah again, searching through her playlist. Hmmm… Similar music taste. I just hit shuffle, first thing coming up a Maroon 5 song. Daylight. This worked, I thought, seeing both Rebekah and Kol sitting back in defeat. Listening to the lyrics, I pick up on something. They fit.

_Here I am waiting, I'll have to leave soon_  
Why am I, holding on?   
We knew this day would come, we knew it all along   
How did it, come so fast?   
This is our last night but it's late   
And I'm trying not to sleep   
Cause I know, when I wake, I will have to slip away 

They fit in my jacked up life. When Klaus saved me, every time he saved me. _  
_  
_And when the daylight comes I'll have to go_  
But tonight I'm gonna hold you so close   
Cause in the daylight we'll be on our own   
But tonight I need to hold you so close 

He never though that he deserved me. He thought that I was going to run away from him. But, how wrong he was. __  
  
Here I am staring at your perfection  
In my arms, so beautiful   
The sky is getting back the stars are burning out   
Somebody slow it down   
This is way too hard, cause I know   
When the sun comes up, I will leave   
This is my last glance that will soon be memory 

 How he looks at me. I never thought anyone else would see me that way. Yet, he is scared of me.   
  
_And when the daylight comes I'll have to go_  
But tonight I'm gonna hold you so close   
Cause in the daylight we'll be on our own   
But tonight I need to hold you so close   
  
I never wanted to stop because I don't wanna start all over, start all over   
I was afraid of the dark but now it's all that I want, all that I want, all that I want 

I felt this way for him. I had tried to bottle this up. I was scared of his dark side, yet drawn to it at the same time. I had taken a chance.

__  
And when the daylight comes I'll have to go  
But tonight I'm gonna hold you so close   
Cause in the daylight we'll be on our own   
But tonight I need to hold you so close 

We save each other. He is my salvation, I am his.

__  
And when the daylight comes I'll have to go  
But tonight I'm gonna hold you so close   
Cause in the daylight we'll be on our own   
But tonight I need to hold you so close   
  


As the song ends, we pull into Boarding House’s driveway. Shutting off the car, he just sits there, looking at me. I reach over and take his hand, still on the steering wheel. He squeezes it, asking me in a quiet voice,

“You ready?” I nod, getting out of the car. I am ready for this.

 

I walk up to the door with purpose. Yet, with every step, fear built up in my throat, feeling as though I was about to puke. I knock, with my Original bodyguard behind me.

Bonnie opens the door, already talking, “Care, thank god you’re here, Elena’s…” She trails off seeing the entire Original ensemble behind me, including previously dead cast members.

“Elena’s what Bonnie?” I ask, she just stares at us, Kol particularly, he raises his eyebrows. Seeing that, I smirk inwardly. Poor Bonnie’s not going to know what hit her.

Kol decides to break the silence.

“As attractive as I am, Miss Bennett, you really shouldn’t stare.” Bonnie recovers, screaming.

“HOW THE HELL ARE YOU ALIVE?”

At the sound of her voice, the other inhabitants of the house come running. Damon and Stefan slip into the foyer, Elena falling on top of them. Looking up, their mouths are agape. Finally, Damon being the ass he is, notices whose hand I’m holding.

“Well, well, well Blondie. You must really like Hybrid sex.”

 

 


	10. Plotting

Bound By Blood

**Chapter 10: Plotting**

_I wanted so ably_

_to reassure you, I wanted_

_the man you took to be me,_

_to comfort you, and got_

_up, and went to the window,_

_pushed back, as you asked me to,_

_the curtain, to see_

_the outline of the trees_

_in the night outside._

_The light, love,_

_the light we felt then,_

_greyly, was it, that_

_came in, on us, not_

_merely my hands or yours,_

_or a wetness so comfortable,_

_but in the dark then_

_as you slept, the grey_

_figure came so close_

_and leaned over,_

_between us, as you_

_slept, restless, and_

_my own face had to_

_see it, and be seen by it,_

_the man it was, your_

_grey lost tired bewildered_

_brother, unused, untaken—_

_hated by love, and dead,_

_but not dead, for an_

_instant, saw me, myself_

_the intruder, as he was not._

_I tried to say, it is_

_all right, she is_

_happy, you are no longer_

_needed. I said,_

_he is dead, and he_

_went as you shifted_

_and woke, at first afraid,_

_then knew by my own knowing_

_what had happened—_

_and the light then_

_of the sun coming_

_for another morning_

_in the world._

_-Robert Creeley, The World_

**Caroline POV**

Wearing spiked heels has benefits. I mean sure they are uncomfortable, and have a high likelihood of making you fall flat on your face, but for kicking Damon Salvatore in the face, they are perfect.

I drive the spikes into his face, taking out all the anger I’ve felt at him, at Elena, at this whole life. He heals, but it still helps. Leaning down, I hiss in his face.

“You have no idea what I like _Damon._ Next time, you might want to keep your thoughts to yourself. A hybrid bite is quite painful, I’ve heard.” I smirk, standing up. Elena rushes over to Damon’s side, while Stefan and Bonnie merely stare.

Finally breaking the ice, Rebekah steps forward.

“Are we going to plot or not? I mean I think Caroline would be more than happy to kill Damon again, but is that really productive?”

Stefan awkwardly leads us into the living room. Rebekah kept eyeing him, like a piece of meat, which in a way, Stefan was… He didn’t notice though.  I grin to myself. Poor Stefan.

Klaus sits next to me on a loveseat, with Elijah standing behind him. Elena has Damon spread out on the couch, while Bonnie has sitting on the couch next to mine. Stefan was in an overly large armchair, with Rebekah perched on the arm.

Kol strides in after everyone, accessing the seating situation, and promptly sitting himself next to Bonnie. She gives him a look, while he just smiles at her. You could cut the awkward in the room with a knife, considering that everyone in the room had tried to kill the other at least once.

Breaking the silence, Kol says,

“Who is the idiot that woke Silas?”

“Katherine did.  He was desiccated, so she fed him… Jeremy.” Bonnie says, eyeing Elena at her last words.

Klaus looks at Elijah pointedly, while he stares at his feet guiltily.

“Ok moving on from the cure, did any of you idiots think to actually _find_ Silas? I mean, he’s going to kill us all.” Kol said.

Damon looked up at him for a second, as if processing something.

“How are you alive ,again?” Bonnie had been staring at Kol as well, working something out in her head. Suddenly she takes his arm. Rolling up his sleeve, he smirked at her.

“Undressing me already?” She gives him a look.

“You have a magical signature. Look!” She pointed at his arm, bicep to be specific. All I saw was muscle.

“I know that my biceps are pretty magical, but you don’t have to point that out of everyone, sweetheart.”

“Ugh that’s not what I meant.” She said exasperated, throwing his arm down. It lands on her leg, with Kol to moving it, merely leaving it there. “Maybe only witches can see…” musing to herself.

“See what?” Kol asked, wondering why there was something on his body only one person could see.

“There’s a mark. Similar to Jeremy’s, except it has all these Latin markings.” Bonnie said, lying back on the couch. “I’ll have to study them later. Nobody just comes back from the dead.”

Kol wiggles his eyebrows at  the word “later,” while Bonnie just rolls her eyes.

“So, there are two messes we have to clean up, finding Katherine and the cure, and finding Silas.” Klaus said, breaking up the tension that had fallen over the room.

“The hunter told me something about Katherine. She had been in contact with him to get the cure, and with Haley.” Damon said, sitting back up, already recovered from the spiking. He pours himself a drink. Holding up the decanter, he offers one to the other men in the room, Elijah refusing, while Klaus and Kol accepting.

Taking the glass, Klaus asked, “Haley, Tyler Lockwood’s whore?”                 

Damon nodded, “She was more than that though. She has working with Shane, taught Tyler how to unsire himself, and the rest of the hybrids.” Klaus’s eyes start to hint at gold at this. I put an arm around him, he can’t lose control here. “By the way, where is wolf boy? Last I saw, he was playing house with Barbie.”

Beating Klaus to it, I answer him.

“I went to beg for Tyler’s life after we discovered that there was only one cure. And one thing… led to another…” I began, before Damon cut me off.

“Let me guess. You go in, pull the little blonde distraction card, Klaus says deep romantic shit, taking my advice, then you kiss. Tyler catches you, wolfing out.” He says smirking, oddly pleased with himself. Kol cuts him off, clearly wanting to join the asshole association.

“Anyways, wolf boy confesses to cheating on blondie, biting her. Nik freaks out, trying to kill him. Skipping a bunch of hybrid fighting, the mutt gets away when Nik’s back is turned. Anyways, I wake up to find them blood sharing right in front of my corpse.”

In an effort to make a joke, Rebekah said from her perch,

“And that’s what you missed on Glee.”

Elena, Bonnie, and I laughed, while the men in the room gave us confused, weirded out looks.

“It’s from a tv show.” I explain to Klaus.

“So what is the plan? Does anyone know where to find Katherine? I mean no one knows what Silas looks like, nor where he is. I mean he could be one island, if he doesn’t have his magic.” Stefan stated, leaning forward.

“But he’s an immortal being. No one lives that long without some form of supernatural ability.” Klaus countered.

Sitting up, Kol spoke.

“I’ve ran with a lot of witches. All of them knew to keep Silas buried. Though I _tried_ to warn you.” He pauses, wearing a self-satisfied smirk.  “Silas, though he lost his magic, uses witches, warlocks, anyone with magical power. He borrows their power, to speak. I’m sure Shane knew that when he was teaching you expression, Bonnie.” He looks pointedly at her. She looks terrified. I mean who wouldn’t. Some creepy guy training you to be used by some creepy old guy.

“Anyways, he can shape shift too. By drinking their blood” Kol finishes. Everyone whips their heads around. Anyone could be Silas. Yet, had anyone fed Silas. Bonnie speaks, softly this time.

“Shane.”  Speaking louder she elaborates.

“Shane.  He bled himself, to see his wife. His dead wife.”

“What are we going to do?” I whisper.

Surprisingly,  Klaus answers.

“We are going to protect what counts.” I look at him. His stunningly blue eyes have flecks of gold in them, not because he’s angry. Maybe this is his wolf side. His fiercely protective side. Protective of his family, his pack, his… Mate? Is that how he saw me? I place a kiss on his cheek, then move myself to his lap.

Elena is staring at us, confusion in her eyes. We’ll take later, I tell her, staring deep into the chocolate eyes.

Bonnie leans to the floor, searching through her bag.

Pulling out a grimorie, she turns to a page. Reading over the content for a second, looking up, taking a breath, she speaks.

“I can do border spells. It should keep Silas out. Except it requires a lot of power. I’m not sure I can do it on more than two…” Trailing off, my mind is already made up.

 I guess I’ll be moving in with a hybrid after all.

  **A/N: More Klaroline sexy times to come! Review, lovelies!**


	11. Lonely Souls

Bound By Blood

**Chapter 11: Lonely Souls**

_Did you hear about the rose that grew_

_from a crack in the concrete?_

_Proving nature's law is wrong it_

_learned to walk with out having feet._

_Funny it seems, but by keeping it's dreams,_

_it learned to breathe fresh air._

_Long live the rose that grew from concrete_

_when no one else ever cared._

_-Tupac Shakur, The Rose that Grew from Concrete_   
  


**Caroline POV**

Shutting the front door to my own house, I sighed. When did my life get so fucking complicated? If someone had told me freshman year that I would be an undead blood sucker plotting people’s deaths, I would have laughed. If someone had told me a year ago I would be moaning the name of our greatest enemy in pleasure, I would have scoffed.

Looking at the cracked old mirror, I smile. Everything has changed, yet not this old house.

“WHERE. HAVE. YOU. BEEN.” My mother yells, rounding the corner. She’s dressed in her uniform, which is covered in soot. Without thinking, I hug her, getting ash all over my jacket. She hugs me back, tears in her eyes. Pulling away, she sets her face back into a frown.

“You didn’t come home last night. I thought you were in the fire at Elena’s house.” She says quietly. I almost laugh at the absurdity.  I forgot what she didn’t know. Being human, only seeing half of the world.

“Something happened…” I say, looking into her eyes. My eyes.

“What happened? Where’s Tyler?” She asks. At the mention of Tyler, my face darkens. Noticing my expression, my mother brushes my hair out of my face, in a comforting gesture she hadn’t done since I was a child. Maybe even earlier, 9, since my parents got divorced.

I basically raised myself after my parents split. My dad had _tried_ to stay in our lives, but had removed himself in a year. My mom had to take more shifts, more time at work, less time for me.

 It was when I was 11 that she started taking night shifts. I became the norm for me to come home to a dark, empty house. I made my own dinner, was my own boss. I guess those were my defining moments. Not moments with people. But, moments where I was alone with no one in the world. All I wanted was to be loved.

Maybe that’s why I was always the second choice. I would always try to fucking hard.

“Caroline?” My mom asks, quietly. “What did he do?”

“He… He bit me.” I choke out. This was the first heart to heart that I’d had with my mom in a while.

“Oh Care. Honey.” She soothes. “Did Klaus heal you?”

Klaus. She didn’t know about all _that._

“He was the reason Tyler bit me.” My mom looks at me confused. I would be too, had I not been there.

“Klaus… We kissed. And Tyler saw. And, well, he got mad.” She looks worried. I mean, what mom wouldn’t be, if her daughter is kissing a mass murderer.

I begin to cry. I don’t know why. I just shake my head as the tears come.

“I couldn’t hold it in anymore Mommy. I just couldn’t” I take a deep breath, coming out as a sob, and continue.

“I should hate him. I _should._ But, when he looks at me, when he talks to me… I just. I don’t know!” I throw my hands down as I say it, looking down at them. Why was I getting emotional _now_? This was my mom for god’s sake!

 As the first tear hit my shoe, I feel her arms around me. Rocking me, making shushing noises with her mouth, she just let me cry. I hadn’t done this for so long. It felt so good to just… let go.

She just sat me on the couch and let me cry. We didn’t speak. It was good to know she was _there._ For once my mom was there for me.

Our mother-daughter moment is interrupted by a knock at the door. Klaus.

“Ms. Forbes”

My mom opened the door to find my, god-knows-what, boyfriend? The title just **did not** fit Klaus.

“Klaus.” She said, not rudely, just surprised.

“Did you tell her yet, love?” I blush and shake my head. My mom looks at me extremely critically, already assuming the worst. He steps into the entry hall, skillfully stepping around my mother giving him the evil eye. Sitting down next to me, I take a breath.

“Katherine’s back.” I said, starting with something my mom would know. She couldn’t forget the bitch that turned me into a vampire. I doubt I ever would in my limitless existence.

“What do you mean she’s back?” my mom exclaimed, reaching for her gun holster.

“Mom. She’s the least of our worries. She has The Cure.”

“But, don’t you guys want the cure?” she asks, confused. We _did_ want the cure.

“There is only one does, Sherriff.” Klaus answers, placing his hand on my knee. Really? Now?

“And getting the cure meant waking up the most powerful creature on Earth. Silas.”  Klaus has a mock hurt expression on his face, as if mortally wounded now that he is no longer holding the title of “most powerful thing on the planet.”

 I smirk, looking at him. He can be such a child sometimes. I mean when made Tyler pack up his house after I refused him, it was a pouty toddler tantrum. When he wouldn’t take no for an answer for a date, petulant kindergartener not taking no for an answer at bed time. When he only spoke in Arimaic, a seven year old showing off.

I smile, imagining him at all these ages.  He must have been adorable.

“So now, we have a powerful psychopath on the loose. Nothing new in Mystic Falls.” My mom says, looking pointedly at Klaus, at the last part.

“Anyways, Bonnie going to do some protection spells, but the group is splitting between the two vampire houses.” I tell her, looking down.  There was no other way to say this. “I’m going to stay with Klaus a while, just until this whole drama settles down.”

I peek up at her. She looks crushed, as though she knew this day would come. Her only child leaving. Moving out.

“There’s nothing I can do.” She finally saving, looking defeated.

“It’s best to make sure Caroline’s safe.” Klaus says gently, I didn’t know he knew how to do “gentle.” Maybe because it’s _my_ mom, he was going easy on her. He sure as hell wasn’t gentle in bed.

“I’ll just pack up some clothes and my other stuff, Mom. I’ll be back when this is all over.” I tell her, leading upstairs, leading Klaus.

 

My room is surprisingly neat. I had cleaned it before I went to go drag Tyler away from the Gilbert house. That seemed like years ago.

He sits down on the bed as I open the closet, grabbing stuff right and left.  I didn’t know _how_ long I was going to be gone.

Turning around with an armload of clothes, I see Klaus looking at a piece of paper. Recognizing it immediately, my face breaks into a grin.

“You kept it.” He says, still looking at the piece of paper.

“Of course I kept it. It’s beautiful. And no one’s ever drawn me before. It sort of fulfills some die-hard romantic dream of mine.” I say, wrapping my arms around him from the back, standing on my tip-toes, and giving him a kiss on the cheek. My lipgloss leaves a pink lip mark on his face.

Giggling, I throw all the clothes into two suitcases, along with about a dozen pairs of shoes. Zipping both of them shut, I open another drawer. Looking for my good bras and panties, I throw a couple out.

Turning around to pick them up, I see Klaus staring almost boyishly at the underwear and panties. Smiling seductively, I bend down to pick them up.

“You know you can see them later, if you want.” He swallows hard, and moves his pants around uncomfortably. Who knew a thousand year old hybrid could get so worked up about a pair of panties?

Stuffing 2 dozen of my best pair of lingerie into another bag, along with my life-aka my curling iron- and other must-haves, like make up, hairspray, perfume, razor. 

Klaus already has my two other bags. I grab my purse and pick up the other. I turn back once, walking out the door, leaving my childhood behind.

Setting my stuff down in Klaus’s bedroom, it felt weird. Of course it felt weird! I told myself. This was _Klaus._ If none of this had happened, I would have drop kicked myself out the door. Yet, this all happened, for better or worse.

I decide it was for the better. I was no longer hiding behind any of my feelings. I wasn’t using anyone, and most of all I was being truthful, not only to everyone else but to myself.

Klaus walks in bringing the rest of my stuff. Except, instead of just setting it down, he carries it into the bathroom.  I follow him with the rest of my stuff, wondering what the hell he’s doing.

Big. That’s the only word I think of when I see it. High ceiling, a huge shower, and a giant claw foot tub. On either end of the room, there are sets of French doors, obviously leading to closets. He throws opens the ones on the right, walking in boldly.

Oak paneled all around with racks and cabinets decorating the wall, It’s almost empty. On the far end, where there’s a vanity, lies a treasure trove of jewelry. The cabinets around it overflow with gems as well.

I gawk as he sets my stuff down, then walking out of the room. Sighing, I unzip my bags and begin to unpack.

As I lift the last of my clothes out of my bag, I notice that he slipped something in there.

Ass. I thought. Coupled with the drawing, there is _the dress._ The dress I wore to his ball. The dress he bought me.

However, I hang it up. He _does_ have good taste, it’s gorgeous.

Placing the drawing at the corner of my vanity like an old-fashioned film star, I grab some lingerie and pajamas, headed for the shower.

Disappointed that he didn’t join me in the shower, I walk into the bedroom, wringing out my hair. He looks up from his sketching, staring at me.

Feeling uncomfortable I sit down, very unladylike-ly, on the bed next to him, climbing under the covers.

He puts down the pad of paper and the charcoal, looking at me, now hidden under the covers.

“What are you doing?” he says, teasingly, tossing the covers off of me.

“I don’t know.” I respond, crawling up to lay on his chest. His arms go automatically around me, and I snuggle deeper into him.

We just sit there for a minute, listening to each other’s breath, before he reaches over to turn off the light.

Sitting in darkness, he speaks.

“Are you sure you’re ok? You just left your childhood.” Thinking for a minute before I respond, I realize something.

“I didn’t walk out on my childhood. It walked out _on me._ The day my parents divorced, I was an adult. It was just… me.” This reminds of my talk-well I really couldn’t call it a talk- with my mom. Except she didn’t get what I was feeling. Klaus was the only person that “got me.”

“What was yours like?” I ask, suddenly curious. I know so little about this enigmatic man whose heart I somehow captured.

“…Horrible.” He says, after thinking for a moment.

“How?” I wonder. What had made it so, bad?

“My fath… I mean Mikeal. He was not a… kind man, to say the least” he said, haltingly, “He hated me the most… even before he found out about my mother’s… indiscretion.” I felt something wet hit my shoulder. A tear?

“He beat me. Stabbed me a few times. Once drowned me within an inch of death.” He said in a hollow, detached, haunting voice. I lifted me arms around him, looking up at his profile, tears dripping down it.

“Klaus…”

“He made me want to die. Every day I feared home. My mother indifferent. My siblings just as scared as I was…” He lets out a sob.

“I never was good enough.” He finally releases, breaking down. I hold him, rocking him, telling him everything is going to be alright. Because now it is.

It’s almost odd. We had the same damn problem. Those unloved souls, those bad beginnings, might finally get a happy ending.

“You know what? Maybe we were meant to find each other. Loneliness is not meant for eternity.”

He stares at me, as though hit by lightning. He then grabs me, pulling me done into a kiss.

“Thank you.” I feel his lips move as they join again and again.

 


	12. Domesticity

Bound By Blood

**Chapter 12: Domesticity**

_Tonight, nothing is long enough—_

_time isn’t._

_Were there a fire,_

_it would burn now._

_Were there a heaven,_

_I would have gone long ago._

_I think that light_

_is the final image._

_But time reoccurs,_

_love—and an echo._

_A time passes_

_love in the dark._

_-The Tunnel, Robert Creeley_

**Caroline POV**

Staring at the dark canopy of the bed, I lay in bed, next to Klaus. He was still asleep. I had just let him cry last night. Klaus, the all powerful hybrid cried.

I always had suspected there was more to the story. I mean he didn’t become the monster that I saw on prank night when he turned. He had been damaged long before the word vampire even existed.

He looks so peaceful when he sleeps. I run my fingers through his short, curly hair, messing it up, into all directions. Messy. That’s how I like it.

Getting up, I throw a button down of his over my nightgown.  I’m hungry. For human food.

Taking one last look at the sleeping hybrid, I close the door quietly. Looking down the hall, I take the back stairs instead of the grand staircase, to the kitchen.

Getting there, I see Rebekah is already awake, working the coffee pot.

“Morning, Caroline.” She says, almost formally. I nod at her, making a beeline for the coffee. I was not functioning until about half a cup in.

Grabbing another blood bag from the fridge, I dump it into the cup as well. We stand there, just sipping the beverages for a couple of minutes before she gets up, pulling things out of the fridge.

“You want?” She asks, pulling out stuff for pancakes. I nod my head, grabbing some of the stuff from her to help.

This was weird. Making breakfast with _Rebekah?_ I guess everything in my new life is weird.

She takes out an old-fashioned griddle, while I look through the cabinets for bowls. Turning on the heat of the antique-looking stove, she adds another griddle to the stove.

I hand her a bowl wordlessly, and take a wrapped package from the counter. Bacon. Laying it on the hot surface, I hear her begin to break eggs into a bowl, opening up packages, stirring.

How oddly domestic. Two vampires, one over a thousand years old, making a normal breakfast. I flip the meat, sizzling on the surface. I wonder if Klaus _can cook._ I mean he is pretty old-fashioned, and well… rich.

Rebekah comes up behind me, trying to put batter on the adjacent griddle. It hisses as cold meets hot and begins to bubble. I smile at her.

“How are you?” I ask, sincerely.

“Good. I slept, not hearing you and Nik.” She answered, eyes cast down on the pancakes.

Turning red, I shake my head.

“It was a long day. We had a… talk” Her eyebrows raise at the word “talk,” then lower at my expression. She seemed to know that there was some sort of deeper meaning to what happened, though she didn’t ask. That was one of the good things about her. She didn’t ask questions, either she didn’t care or she has just learned that sometimes secrets are best kept.

Placing the bacon on a plate, while Rebekah flips the pancakes, Klaus walks in, still in his boxers and no shirt, with Elijah in tow. Kol was obviously still sleeping off some sort of hangover.

Elijah wore a pair of long, blue pajama, monogrammed on the left breast pocket with a EM. I giggle looking at the two brothers.

The businessman and the artist.

Both of them go straight for the coffee, cordially exchanging the pot.

“Good morning sister.” Elijah says, giving her a hug with one arm, holding his coffee cup, while the other trying to snatch a bite of pancake batter. She whacks him on the head with her turner,

“HANDS OFF, ‘Lijah.” She yells swatting him.

“What’s all the racket dear sister? Someone try and dagger you again?” Kol says, striking into the room wearing nothing but a pair of grey boxers. What is with the two younger Mikealson brothers and sleeping in nothing? Elijah slept fully covered.

I wonder if the deceased brothers slept in. Maybe it’s a family split thing.

Klaus comes up behind me, planting a coffee flavored kiss on my cheek.

“Morning, love.” I turn and properly kiss him to only be interrupted by Rebekah’s yelling.

“KOL. OFF.” She yells, swatting him away. “And ELIJAH!” Turning, she sees the sneak attack of her eldest brother. Hitting them both, she shoos them to the stools lining the counter.

 Taking the first couple of off, she puts them on a plate, handing them to Klaus and me. Shaking my head, I hand it to Elijah, purposely pissing off Kol.

“Why’s Elijah get them before me?” he whines, as Klaus sits down behind him. Rebekah answering for me, says,

“Because you’re a brat. Caroline, please hand this to the idiot.” She says, giving me another plate. Handing it to Kol, he sticks his tongue out at me, earning a whack on the head from Klaus.

Grinning, I get my own plate, yet as I’m about to sit down, the doorbell rings. Rebekah’s still at the stove and the boys are not about to stop eating.

“I’ll get it.” I say, placing my napkin next to my plate, and walking to the front door, through the grand ballroom.

Opening the door, I see Bonnie. She looks pretty, sexy, even. I smirk, wondering if she was dressing for a certain Original, though I don’t ask. I have no idea how much of our relationship is left.

She’s wearing a low cut, gold shirt, accessorized by a black leather jacket, dark jeans, and knee high boots.

“Bonnie…” I breathe, almost scared for our friendship, is it ruined.

“Can I come in?” she says, not quite back to where we were before, but not by any means cold, she’s just unsure.

Leading her into the kitchen, it must be overwhelming.

World War III had started in my short absence, over the stupidest things. The painting over the mantel, the quality of the pancakes, and the syrup. Ugh, the syrup.

Apparently, Rebekah had stayed out of that fight, considering the three “men” in the room were now covered in the sticky amber liquid.

Raising my eyebrows and crossing my arms, I look down at the three boys wrestling on the floor.

“BOYS.” I yell with zero patience.

Their heads turn quickly towards me, wearing identical, guilty, puppy-dog expressions.

Through gritted teeth, I muster a relatively calm voice.

“Do you want to explain yourselves.” They shake their heads, whirling around I look at Rebekah, who’s smirking, obviously knowing that she can’t stop her brothers’ fighting. Bonnie, looks shocked. Maybe because of Kol’s abs, or state of undress or just the shock of the mess, I’m not sure. All I know is her mouth was agape in a perfect oval.

“Bonnie, do you want to do the spell?” I ask, ignoring the _boys_ on the floor.

Opening her mouth like a fish a couple of times, she finally stammers out,

“They might want to get cleaned up first.”

“Good idea.” I enunciate, grabbing Klaus by the ear and dragging him up the stairs, leaving Rebekah to deal with the other mischief makers.

Shoving open the door to his-our bedroom, I drag him into the room. He’s smirking. Leading him into the bathroom and turning on the shower, I rip off his boxers. His smirk grows wider.

“I know that you enjoy my antics love…” he says, smirking with his adorable dimples. “Among other things…” gesturing to the remnants of his boxers, eyebrows raised.

I roll my eyes, wrapping arms around his neck, pulling closer to him.

“Just kiss me, moron.” His lips meet mine in that familiar, passionate fire. His hands begin to move up my soaked shirt, making it ride up to reveal the wet black lace nightgown.

His lips moving against mine, murmuring slight moans, he teases quietly.

“Now I’m a moron? Miss. Forbes, I believe you must be punished for such an insult.” He rips off the shirt first, throwing it to the ground. Our lips meeting again, starting from the top, he begins to slowly rip the lacey sides.

Tongue sliding into my mouth, move my hands to the back of his head. Meeting again and again, I knit my hands further into his hair, forgetting what we were supposed to be doing.

He rips the flimsy black gown off with a grunt throwing it beside the boxers and shirt. Finally free from both of our confinements, our bodies reunite, his arms around my waist. In a single motion, he lifts me up placing me against the wall, water falling on both of us.

I move my legs around his waist, kissing more and more desperately. Now completely soaked, I whisper in his ear.

“I want you in me.”

He thrusting in. Gasping, I wrap my legs tighter, rolling my hips against his.

“Caroline…” He breathes, elongating my name, a syllable with each thrust, me becoming wetter with each. 

Reaching his climax, his head tilts back, in ecstasy, releasing into me. My walls begin to spaz more and more, I’m close.

As though our bodies are in canon, I reach as soon as he’s coming down, digging my nails into his muscly back.

“Fuuuuckkk” I hiss, fangs out. With no control, so unlike me, I bite down on his neck. Hissing back at me, his fangs exposed as well, he grabs for one of my hands, currently knotted in his hair.

Bringing it to lips, biting into it, my pulse quickens. Feeding off of each other, simultaneously, this is what the vampire in me wants. She hungers for it. She wants to taste her lover’s blood as he taste’s hers. She had longed for it with Tyler, yet it could never happen. With Klaus however, she was drinking the cure to death.

Taking one final sip, I retract my fangs from his neck, kissing it lightly. Withdrawing his from my wrist, he begins to place light, feather kisses up my arm, once again meeting my lips.

Giggling, I pull away still on his hips.

“You’re still sticky.” I remark feeling the amber liquid on his chest.

“Well so are you love.” Grabbing the soap, we wash together.

Going through my closet, I grab a shrunken black blazer and dark jeans. Throwing them on the chaise in the middle of the room, I search through the other side of the closet looking for a top. Huffing I don’t find anything interesting.  Peeping over into Klaus’s closet, I consider the idea for a second. He’s got to have some cool stuff.

Tiptoeing into the room, I look around. Shirts, left side? Throwing open a couple of drawers I confirm my suspicions. Going further down the line, I realize it goes by years, the further back the older. With a gleam in my eyes, and a sneaking suspicion that Klaus had always been an artist, I know what to look for.

Towards the end, I find it. Hundreds of concert shirts. Smiling to myself, imagining him at Woodstock, I look through the most notable. The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Led Zepplin, just to name a few. Grabbing the Beatles one, I walk back to my own closet.

Throwing on the clothes, with a pair of black stilettos, I go over to the vanity, to do my makeup, but something catches my eye. Jewelry.

Throwing open the door to the cabinets, I examine the pieces. Taking a dainty diamond chain and looping it over my neck, I sit down, beginning to apply foundation.

Walking downstairs and into the living room, I see they were waiting for me. Or maybe Rebekah seeing as she wasn’t here either.

Klaus recognizes the shirt immediately, smirking.

“Raiding my closet again, love?” he says, setting down his ever present sketch book. I stick my tongue out at him as I sit next to him on the couch.

Looking around the room, I access the almost familial setting. Elijah is reading some old dusty tome. Kol drinking and messing around on his phone, with occasional glances at Bonnie.

Bonnie.

She is staring at me, looking up from a grimorie. It’s an old one, not one that looks like hers. Finally looking down she frowns at her reading.

“Kol? What does this say?” she said. I surprised, turn to Kol, staring at him, ordering an explanation in eye contact.

“What can’t read Norse sweetheart?” he says, setting down his phone.

“I can’t help that you wrote them illegibly in another language!” she responded hotily. Kol owned grimories? Shocked I ask,

“Why the hell do you have grimories?” He looks at me with that annoying expression, as though he’s my annoying younger brother.

“Well, Miss Forbes, I happen to have spent quite a lot of time with witches over the centuries, I was bound to learn something.” He said condescendingly. I glare at him. “I probably know more than that murderous professor, and could help dear Miss Bennett with a lot less… issues than she encountered with Shane.” He said smirking. Did it run in the family or something?

“Other than trying to get into my pants.” Bonnie snaps from her reading. I turn to Klaus, he’s leaned back, relaxed. Giving him a look, he responds with one of his own. As in “would it be that bad if he did?”

I huff. Utterly hopeless.

Elijah looks up from his book, rolling his eyes, clearly used to this.

Rebekah finally walks into the room.

“Are we going to do this or not?” she says bluntly.

Bonnie looks up, shutting the grimorie.

“I need everyone’s blood.”

 


	13. Balance

Bound By Blood

**Chapter 13: Balance**

_Our family tree is in the sear_

_And yellow leaf of life;_

_Branch after branch, year after year,_

_Yields to death’s pruning knife._

_First, youngest born, as if ’twere meet,_

_The sacrifice should be,_

_“The last of earth,” the first to meet_

_Th’ unknown eternity._

_’Twas God who gave, ’twas He who took,_

_His voice let us obey,_

_So that in his eternal book,_

_Our names shine bright as day._

_-Joseph Cephas Holly, Our Family Tree_

**Caroline POV**

“What do you mean you need our blood!” Klaus yells at Bonnie as she calmly takes out a glistening silver dagger. It’s old, ancient even, crimson gems encrusted on the hilt. Looking at him as though she heard this all before, which she probably had, knowing Damon’s temper, she explained.

“Blood has the strongest magic of all. Blood binds families together, it is what turned you all into vampires, it’s a form of sex, it can create because it destroys. It ties everything in life together.” 

It makes sense in a way. Nature always calls for balance. Some people call it Karma. Others call it God’s wrath. We call it magic. For every reward, there is sacrifice. For every birth, death. For every beginning, an end.

“Do _all of us_ need to give blood?” I ask Bonnie, fully willing to.

She looks up, eyebrows raised. This is the Bonnie Bennett I know.

“Are you living here?” She asks, a hint of laughter in her voice. I wonder if she had heard us upstairs, or an annoying Original had given her up to the minute commentary.

“…Ye… Yes.” I stammer, looking into her onyx eyes. They soften. Over the past year, I had felt myself drifting away from Bonnie, the only thing really still holding us together, helping Elena. It wasn’t like I didn’t love Elena, but when was the last time we did something for ourselves?

“Then I need yours.” Taking the knife from her hand, I slit my finger. Bonnie hands me a small vial. I let it drip into it, waiting for it to fill almost to the top.

Looking around I see Klaus watching, more specifically my blood, hungrily. Catching his eye, I wink at him mouthing later, and he swallows hard. Letting the last few drops catch, I close the stopper, shaking my finger a bit to stop the stinging.

Kol goes next. Taking the knife from Bonnie, holding her hand a bit too long, he slices a massive rip in his arm, obviously on purpose. Blood comes gushing out. Trying to catch it, Bonnie grabs his hand. He smirks at her, only to get an eye roll in response. Out of the corner of my eye, Klaus and Rebekah are smirking, while Elijah wears a look of disapproval. As soon as the vial is full, she jerks her hand out of his, stopping the bottle.

Slapping him hard, with a sound like a whip, she says, “That’s for trying to get into my pants, dick.”

Klaus and I roared with laughter, Elijah and Rebekah too. They hadn’t known Bonnie’s temper, expecting their brother to get exactly what he wanted. I ,however, knew he had another thing coming.

He stalked back to his chair, a large, red hand mark now branding his cheek. He was wearing a cloudy expression, as though un-used to rejection. Probably hadn’t ever tasted it before.

Rebekah and Elijah soon followed suit, going at the same time. After she collected their bottles, she turned to Klaus, expectantly.

He sat there like a pouting toddler, arms crossed, eyebrows drawn over his eyes. His expression clearly saying, “I don’t want to.”

“Klaus…” I said warningly, hoping he’s get the message. No blood given, no blood gotten. 

His eyebrows draw into that sad puppy dog look that’s he used on me many times, pleading. I shake my head no.

Getting up, stomping over like a child put in time out, taking the knife from Bonnie, he pouted. Rolling my eyes, I get up, walking over to him, to help.

Squeezing his finger, letting it drip slowly into the vial, we stared intensely. After I stopper the bottle, I bring the finger to my lips, slowly licking it.

“Could you stop it?” Kol whined, breaking our perfect intimate moment. We both glare at him, laid back on the couch with a glass of whiskey in his hand. “It’s like watching foreplay by my parents.”

“You’re lucky you weren’t around to watch Elijah fawn over the Petrova whore.” Rebekah said, clearly miffed by the blood sharing/sex in public.

“Which one?” he asks, a legitimate question, though he was smirking, purposely trying to rill Elijah up.

“None of your business.” Elijah said coldly, glaring at his brother over a wine glass full of blood. Bonnie organizes all the vials, consulting her own grimorie for further instructions.

“Assuming it wasn’t Tatia, and that the current doppelganger being so wrapped up in the Salvatore brothers, you seduced- or should I say- were seduced, by Katerina.”

Elijah set down the glass hard, and tackled his brother from the side, sending both of them to the floor. Exchanging an eye roll with Rebekah, she got up, grabbing Elijah by the neck.

Klaus picks up Kol, putting him back on the couch, like a father putting his son in time-out.

Bonnie glared at the brothers, impatient.

“If y’all are finished, we have to go outside.” Instead of waiting for a response, I got up dragging Klaus behind me. We needed to get this done, and quick.

At the back of the property, the woods started.

The ancient woods. The woods that had been around since the time of the Originals and before.

The clearing Bonnie led them to was small, shrouded in the dark oak trees common to our area. The long shadows of winter made the trees look like phantoms, robed in white. The floor of the clearing was relatively void of now, as Bonnie, holding a long wooden staff, she began to carve symbols into the earth.

They must be ancient, not recognizing the language. Bonnie obviously doesn’t either, constantly glancing back at the book on the ground.

“Here” She said, shoving a large bronze brazier into my arms. Staring at her confused, she rolls her eyes at me, a smile playing on her face. She points to a spot on the ground, sort of at the middle of the symbols.

Placing it there, I see Klaus inspecting one of the symbols. Walking over to him, I bend down behind him, whispering in his ear.

“What is it?” I say, seductively, the taste of his blood still in my mouth. I wonder if I was developing an addiction for it.

“My name.” he says, pointing to one collection of symbols. “Yours.” He says pointing to another. They are joined almost, but not quite, with another collection. Maybe to show family ties? But I wasn’t his family.

“Kol!” I heard Bonnie shriek.  Looking up, I see her yelling at a tree. Or rather the Original perched there.

“NOT FUNNY!” she shouted, shaking snow from her hair, and looking up at the tree unable to see him. I giggle, remember the much simpler time when Bonnie, Elena, and I would go and have snowball fights in these woods, hiding from each other.

She makes a projectile of her own, stalking the vampire, her temper overriding her sense of fun. Yet, I knew Bonnie Bennett. She liked to be chased, she liked to give the cold shoulder. She played hard to get.

Something cold fell over my own head. Whiring around, I find no one. Ugh, the brothers wanted to play.

“Klaus…” I mutter, going around the circle to join Bonnie, sharing an eyeroll.

“You go that way, I go this way?” I asked, pointing in two separate directions. She nods, stalking off.

Trudging silently in snow boots, I try and use my vampire hearing though I pick up nothing. Dammit.

I stop. This clearing is blanketed in white powder, almost as though untouched by humans, left here for me to find. A little glass pond is further in, a mirror fogged by the flakes.

 I consider a poem.  Robert Frost. I had loved poetry as a child. Something about the cadence of the words made it feel like music to my young ears. I liked to sing too, though I hadn’t done it in a long time. I just didn’t find purpose anymore.

I began to recite, turning and stepping with each syllable, in my own silent dance.

_Whose woods these are I think I know._

_His house is in the village though;_

Stepping into the clearing, I forgot myself as though performing.

_He will not see me stopping here_

_To watch his woods fill up with snow._

It wasn’t snowing now, as much as I wanted it to. Yet, I kick my boots up, to see the dance of winter at my feet.

_My little horse must think it queer_

_To stop without a farmhouse near_

I should be looking for Klaus. We should get the spell done.

_Between the woods and frozen lake_

_The darkest evening of the year._

Dark times. That’s what’s ahead of us. Silas is said to bring our destruction. Darkness ahead.

_He gives his harness bells a shake_

_To ask if there is some mistake._

There’s no mistake I’m stopping here. Beauty is a rare thing. I want to capture the moment, keep it alive in an immortal brain.

_The only other sound’s the sweep_

_Of easy wind and downy flake._

Sliding onto the ice, I make the sounds of Robert Frost’s rhythmic voice, feeling like a skater.

 

_The woods are lovely, dark and deep._

_But I have promises to keep,_

I must be going. Keeping going. I have to do things, find my own dark and deep man.

_And miles to go before I sleep,_

_And miles to go before I sleep._

 

I hear clapping behind me. Hurrying to turn around, I slip on the ice, falling squarely on my butt.

“Bravo darling.” Klaus said helping me up. I frown at him ,merely to be returned by a grin. “I didn’t know you were a poetess.”

“Shut up.” I says, stalking off back to the original clearing.

When we return, Bonnie is dragging Kol by the ear, laughing. I raise my eyebrows in surprise, noting the white snow now covering the pair. She rolls her eyes at me, mouthing the words later.

Elijah and Rebekah walk into the clearing after them, clearly taking their time getting there. Bonnie grabs the bottles from them anxiously, as though ready to bolt at any minute.

I smirk knowing it has something to do with Kol’s self-satisfied smirk. Poring the bottles on the corresponding markings, she breathes out once. Without her noticing, Kol comes up behind her, obviously ready to help in case anything goes wrong. He better know what he’s talking about.

Lighting the brazier, starting to chant, and closing her eyes, the fire begins to spread. I don’t understand the words, yet I can feel the aura of power washing over us.

I can hear Kol whispering in her ear.

“You are in control. Don’t let the magic control you. You control _it._ You are in control.” He says, almost like a mantra.

His method is so much different than Shane’s. While Shane uses loud tones and tricks, he uses nothing above a whisper, and nothing but his voice.

Bonnie’s body language is different, too. She is more relaxed, and from what I can tell more in control.

Her voice rising to a shout, blood begins to gush from her nose, staining the white snow. Gasping and shuddering, she struggles to finishes out the last line, her voice hoarse.

At her last word, the flame flare then extinguish suddenly. Taking one shaky breath, opening her eyes, and the flow of blood stopping, she take one breath, before collapsing into Kol’s arms.

 


	14. Past

Bound By Blood

**Chapter 14: Past**

_The debt is paid,_

_The verdict said,_

_The Furies laid,_

_The plague is stayed,_

_All fortunes made;_

_Turn the key and bolt the door,_

_Sweet is death forevermore._

_Nor haughty hope, nor swart chagrin,_

_Nor murdering hate, can enter in._

_All is now secure and fast;_

_Not the gods can shake the Past;_

_Flies-to the adamantine door_

_Bolted down forevermore._

_None can re-enter there,—_

_No thief so politic,_

_No Satan with a royal trick_

_Steal in by window, chink, or hole,_

_To bind or unbind, add what lacked,_

_Insert a leaf, or forge a name,_

_New-face or finish what is packed,_

_Alter or mend eternal Fact._

_-Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Past_

**Caroline POV**

“Bonnie!” I yelled, rushing to my best friend, but Kol already had her. Initially bending down at the added weight, he straightens up, properly placing one arm around her shoulders, and another under her knees, picking her up as though she weighs no more than a rag doll. There is a tender look I hadn’t seen before in his eyes as he looks at her, something foreign on his handsome features.

Meeting Klaus’s eyes once and exchanging a small nod, almost imperceptible, he flashes back to the house.

“We need to go back. Quick.” I say, tugging on his jacket, trying to pull him back towards the house. He moves with me, however much slower than I intended.

“Slow down love. I think your friend Bonnie is going to be just fine.” He said, taking my swinging hand as I walk. I scowl at him, confused.

“She’s there. Unconscious. Alone. With Kol. What can go wrong?” I say sarcastically, hoping he’d get the picture. I hear Rebekah and Elijah fall in step behind us, headed back towards the mansion.

“He’s not as much of a pervert as you make him out to be.” He said in an understanding tone.

“Yes he is!” I heard Rebekah yell from behind us. Elijah laughs.

“BEKAH. I’m trying to make a point.” He shouted back at his sister, turning to me, he continued, “Kol is different. He likes challenges, getting things that are unattainable. Witches intrigue him. I suspect that her refusal will only encourage him more…”

“So is this all a game?” I ask , beginning to understand, yet still defensive.

“In a way.” He says, thinking a moment. “But, he means well. Helping her with her magic is probably a sign that he is at the very least interested.”

Ugh. Living for a thousand years made you so damn complex. I mean look at the man next to me. Killer on one side, romantic on another. Cold and heartless on one side, passionate and tearful on another. Klaus, the hybrid. Nik, the man.

I wonder what I would be like in a thousand years. If I were still alive. With the rate things were going, I was lucky to live to see 2014.

The sky is stained as it sets a mosaic of purple, orange, and crimson. I hadn’t realized how late it was. Gazing off beyond the expanse of the grounds, I see a shimmering golden wall. It’s thin almost transparent, but it catches the last rays of sun, it burst into its own metallic light. The barrier. It must be. The gates of heaven protecting us from the hell outside. Though this heaven was home to monsters.

The side door is cracked open, mostly likely from Kol’s hasty entry. Pushing it open, I walk inside, trailed by the rest of the Original family. Taking off my muddied boots and coat and leaving them there, I peeped my head into the living room.

Empty.

“Shit.” I muttered, stalking up the stairs. Did he- No. He wouldn’t.

I briefly consult the hallway. I had no idea which one was his room. However Klaus remedies that for me, opening a door further down the hall, next to Rebekah’s.

Looking into the room, my eyes zoom into the focal point, the bed.  Bonnie lay on it, her eyes closed, while Kol was nowhere to be found.

A crash eludes to his location, the bathroom. Coming out triumphant, he holds a bottle of something.

“I am a genius.” He stated walking over to Bonnie’s side, and pulling up a chair. He’s shirtless, I notice, and changed out of his previously wet clothes.

“No, you’re an idiot.” Klaus says, rolling his eyes. I’m by Bonnie’s side as well, brushing her hair away from her face. Kol rolls his eyes, while trying opening the bottle.

“I thought these would come in handy…” He said, through gritted teeth, tugging on the top, “Got it!” The thick smell of sandalwood and other strong herbs. Smelling salts.

He leaned Bonnie forward, sitting himself down behind me, and lifted the bottle to her nose. Klaus shifts uncomfortable at the scene. I realize as I try and take off her jacket, that she’s soaked.

“I’m going to go get some clothes for Bonnie.” I say to no one in particular, walking out of the room, trailed by Klaus. We walk straight into the bathroom, him stripping and turning on the shower, I searching through my closet. Bonnie’s always been a size smaller than me, she’s a lot shorter. But a sweatshirt and yoga pants should fit.

I grab clothes for myself, a pair of navy silk boy shorts, white lacy bra and matching underwear. Pulling them on, I walk out, still shirtless. Klaus is still in the shower as I walk past, going straight into his closet.

I go through the pile of Henley’s, finding a paint stained white one, pulling it over my head. When I walk out, I hand Klaus another Henley and a pair of sweat pants.  No underwear. He’s only wearing a towel which he drops as soon as I walk into the room. I blush. He smirks. Rolling my eyes in frustration, I walk over to the sink, fixing my messy curls into a bun on my head. He’s at the sink next to me, shaving.

“Keep the stubble.” I say not even turning.

“Why love?” He says, stopping in mid cut.

“I like it. It tickles.” I said, fixing the pins in my hair, pulling on a gray sweaty band to hold the rest of the hair back.

“Oh really?” He said reductively in my ear, still with the shaving cream on his face. Some of it smears on my neck.

“Klaus…” I moaned, leaning into the sensuality of the kisses that he plants in a path down my neck. Remembering Bonnie, I pull away. “I have to see Bonnie.” I said, walking out of the room, the shaving cream still on my neck.

The door to Kol’s room is slightly open. Hearing voices, I walk silently, eavesdropping.

“Where am I?” I hear Bonnie grumble.

“My room… You collapsed.” Kol says, almost as though he’s scared of her reaction. I peek through the crack in the door. Kol is still behind Bonnie, her head resting on his bare chest. She’s looking up at him, with a mixed look of confusion, anger, and… happiness?

She struggled to get up, but he forced her back down, as she began to cough.

“Rest sweetheart, rest.” He said soothingly. I felt like I was intruding on something I couldn’t wrap around. Something magical. Something intimate.

“Thank you…” She said quietly, leaning into his chest, eyes closed. “I felt… better doing the spell. Different, from Shane’s influence.”

“Well, I’ve known enough witches in my day.” He says, smirking a bit, though still stroking her hair. I chose that now is the best time of any to give her the stuff.

“Hey Bon? I brought you some stuff.” I says, pushing open the door. Her eyes snap open, realizing her position, while Kol looks at me vividly. I was obviously interrupting.

“Thanks Care.” She said, struggling to her feet, and taking the clothes from me, then walking into the bathroom.

Whispering to Kol, I say, “Tell her she can stay in the guest. And that we’re having dinner soon.”

Hearing the shower turn on, I walk out to find Rebekah.

*Bound By Blood*

Rebekah was in the kitchen, thinking the same thing as I was.  Except she had a different idea of “prepare dinner.”

She was ordering a team of chefs around the kitchen. I stared.

“Hello Caroline.” She said turning around.

“What is this!” I yell, confused

“Nik’s chefs… From DC.” She said, as though it was completely normal.

I roll my eyes. I don’t even want to ask. Yet, I knew I couldn’t argue with it. He’s lived like this for centuries. I should have expected it.

“So is this casual or do I need to get dressed up?” I ask, a tone of laughter, raising an eyebrow

“We’re in the living room… So, no. How’s Bonnie?” She asks, leading me into the living room.

“Good. I left her in Kol’s room…” She laughs a bit, imagining what happened.

“And she didn’t chop off his head?” I shake my head no, and she continues. “You know, dinner won’t be ready for a couple of hours, do you want to watch a movie or something?” she seems nervous, like she’s scared I’ll say no.  I won’t.

Nodding my head, she beckons me upstairs, to her room.

Pushing open the door to her pink room, she walks in with purpose, climbing onto the bed and grabbing the remote.

“What do you want to watch?” She asks as I sit on the bed.

“Rom-Com?” I ask hopefully.

“Do you want to look through my collection? I don’t know many of them. I’ll get some nail polish.”

I bend down going through the huge cabinet. It’s alphabetized, extremely organized, though it only looked like only a couple had been watched. I suddenly felt sorry for Rebekah. She had gone to sleep in a time of black and white, gone to sleep with friends, and when she woke up, there was a world of color, full of enemies just because of her family. We shouldn’t have blamed her.

She comes back into the room with a caddy full of colors, sitting them down on the bed.

“What did you choose?” She called, searching through the bucket.

“I like some of the older ones. Do you want to watch any of these?” I said, spilling out an arm full of movies. She goes through the stack, finding one.

“Stefan mentioned this to me once. Said it defined the 80’s.” Rebekah said, holding up The Breakfast Club. Smiling and popping it in, I sit back to look through the caddy.

The door bangs open, revealing Bonnie as the opening scene begins to roll. She dressed in the clothes I gave her, hair wet, her face a myriad of emotion.

“Hey Care, hey Rebekah.” She said striking in the room and plopping down on the comforter. “Y’all up for girl talk?”

*Bound By Blood*

Sitting on the bed, Bonnie took a deep breath before freaking out.

“So you know when we lost Klaus and Kol in the woods?” She said, speaking fast, not even pausing for me to nod. “So he found me when I was alone. He came up behind me so I didn’t see, and then he pours snow down my back.” I laugh at this, but the glare she gives me, I stop.

“So I push him. And so I’m on top of his and, and I don’t know!” I can see where this is going, Rebekah too.

“I kissed him. _I_ kissed _him.”_ She said, hanging her head in her hands.

“It’s ok Bonnie…” I say, trying to be comforting.

“Was it good?” Rebekah asked seriously. Bonnie looks at her incredulously. “Well was it?

Bonnie guiltily nods her head. Rebekah smiles.

“Then don’t feel guilty. Let it happen.” She says. Going on her thought, adding my own I say,

“Take a chance, Bonnie. You never know until you try.”

Her expression lightens, relieved. Maybe she’s just as scared of not being accepted as the rest of us.

We turn back to normal girl talk, painting our nails and listening to the movie.

*Bound By Blood*

The food in the living room is laid out on the sideboard, behind one of the largest couches.

Klaus and Kol are dressed casually, while Elijah, ever formal, is still in his suit.

Klaus has a large book in his hands, the others like it lying next to him, while Kol stares at laptop, searching for something. Elijah goes through the bookshelf, looking at covers and throwing out books as he went.

Grabbing one of the plates, containing steak I sit down next to Klaus looking over his shoulder.

“What are you looking at?” I ask, taking the first bite of my food. It’s good. Really really good.

“Life.” He says simply. The cover of the book is labeled, in a language I don’t recognize. His native language, Norse, probably.

He shows me the book. The crackling paper is ancient, drawings, each with the same signature.

“Is that from when we were still human?” Kol asks sitting down next to Klaus. He does answer, merely moving the book into his sight line.

The first page is a family portrait, done is charcoal.

The mother, Ester, stands in the middle of her sons, though the two youngest, Rebekah and another boy, probably Hendrik, stand with one of her hands on each of theirs.

The father, the dreaded Mikael, is to the right of Ester, with a long broad sword clasp downward in his hands. His expression is dark, as though ready to strike anyone with that huge sword at a moment’s notice.

Finn, his hair long and scars already marring his face, is directly behind his mother. The warrior, his expression shows little emotion.

Elijah, dark and handsome, is on the left of the witch. He has a bit of a smile on his face. The artist, Klaus, must have not been caught up in the turmoil of Tatia yet, drew him in a favorable light.

Kol, an awkward boy, stand near Elijah, with a hopeful look on his face. Sharing the elder’s good looks, there’s a certain light to his face that’s always been there.

Klaus was off to the side, almost separated from the rest of the family. The look in his eyes was serious, as though he was already the hardened man of today, while his hair was long and curly.

The second drawing is of life. Life as humans.

There’s one of Finn and Elijah fighting, with wooden swords. Another of Rebekah trailing behind her mother in a market.

One of Kol holding Hendrik in a headlock playfully, while the other brothers look on, cheering. One of the falls.

Mikael does not appear anywhere.

I see almost a break in the sketches, as though years pass.

The next is done in color.

A trio, Elijah, Rebekah, and Klaus. Time has obviously passed considering the clothing, and the goblets of blood in the sibling’s hands. He captured their faces, such joy, such passion. They still had their humanity.

More come. Cities, filled with the power of the siblings. I flip faster and faster through the pages looking for the disconnect.

The last time Elijah appears is one of him and a woman. Katherine. They appear to be chasing each other presumably in a garden, noting the clear pathways and flowers. They appear… happy, a kind of light in their eyes that would be lost. The human look of Katherine and the look Elijah once wore as human returned.

After there is only Rebekah, sometimes cities, landscapes. Rarely himself.

The sketches become photos, turning with the years. War photos begin to crop up, with the arrival of Kol, dressed in a Union blue uniform.

“You fought in the Civil War?” I look up to see Bonnie looking at the album as well.

Kol’s eyes look haunted, miles away at bloody battle fields where the unspeakable horrors of man stained the ground.

“I did. It was a horrible time, when men lost their humanity.” He finally answered touching the photograph. Klaus turned the page.

Taped to the page were a quartet of tickets, and a picture, of the four siblings dressed to the nines at a theater. A famous one, and show I might add, looking at the tickets. Lincoln’s assassination.

“Did you kill him?” I ask, tapping the pieces of paper. Elijah chuckles.

“Merely watched history be made love.” Klaus answered, smirking. I bet he knew it was going to happen.  
The photos begin again, of the quartet. They seem to be somewhere far South,  outside of a bar, called Le Voleur judging by the sign, with a man. He is smiling, perfectly relaxed with the Originals, in between Klaus and Kol.

“Ah, Marcel…. Is he still alive?” Kol asks.

“Last I heard.”

“Who’s Marcel?” I ask, wondering about the man who could see so at ease with the Originals.

“He’s a vampire, an old one. I turned him when I was at Versailles, during the reign of Louis the… Fourteenth wasn’t it Rebekah? Anyways, we saw him again in New Orleans, where he fled during the French Revolution. Ran a supernatural “hot spot” called Le Voleur. It’s still around, so I’m told.”

He turns the page, to reveal war splayed out across it. The First, of the World Wars, I guess.

“It was horrible.” Elijah said, who I had not noticed peering over my shoulder. “Mustard gas, and all that new technology. Such a waste. Such a waste.”

“I worked as a nurse. The men, some lost their limbs, their eyes, their souls.” Rebekah said, shuddering.

The pictures change to a happier time, the Roaring 20’s. Stefan entering the pictures, he’s dancing with Rebekah, drinking with Klaus, having fun.

Then the group shots stop. Klaus is alone, as he almost foreshadowed what was to happen in his first portrait.

The 30’s, he’s somewhere in Europe, looking out over a huge parade. Another, he’s shaking the hand of Hitler. Still more, there’s one of him talking to Roosevelt, Churchill, other famous men.

The 40’s. Klaus, in an army uniform. Battles captured. Then, most stunning of all. Some ordinary ones. Him in an office. What was he doing there?

“I was as a spy during the Second War.” He said, noticing my confusion. Seeing my raised eyebrow, he continues, “After the Germans took the Continent, I visited one of their “concentration camps.” Even I could appreciate the beauty of genocide. I joined the British, since the Nazis already knew of services. They put me as a Double Agent.”

“Playing Bond, brother?” Kol asked, joking about one of the few movies he had seen in this decade.

“No, but I knew the creator and inspiration.” He answered bluntly.

“MI5 was really a work of art. They wanted us to make the Germans believe that the plan for D-Day was invading at Calais, instead of Normandy, facilitated by spies. They organized us, an eccentric group, a Spanish chicken farmer, who created his own world where a massive force existed, a Serbian play boy, who embezzled the Germans’ funds for our own; a Polish Patriot who triple-crossed the Germans, creating the armies. I was quite useful, compulsion and all. I did murder a couple of people.” I stare at him incredulously, he did something _good?_

“All for the greater good, sweetheart. I did my part in the war, even a month after the invasion the Germans still believed that there was an invasion coming at Calais.”

He turns the page then, clearly shutting that chapter of history.

The 50’s, he’s traveling. There are some pictures of him with Stalin, a couple with Eisenhower. Nothing big or notable.

The 60’s. There are pictures of him at marches, dressed like a hippy. Him with famous figures, JFK and Jackie, having tea. MLK, at a rally most likely. The most surprising, one of the last, painting with Andy Warhol, side by side.

The 70’s. More protests, more rallies. Different clothes, more hippish. Concerts. Something about this decade screamed music. Pictures of him with those hardcore rock bands, seemed to bring a smile to my face. He was a bit of a fan too, still human in the way.

The 80’s. The tune changes. Looking like a rebel off the street, he wore leather. Lots of it, with ripped pants and a vagrant attitude. He moved around a lot I could tell, yet, he still made time for art. He truly painted with the greats of every age, Jasper Johns, de Kooning, and more. Yet, he seemed to have always been in the action. The picture of him, near the fallen Berlin Wall say that much.

The pictures stop at the 90’s as though he went into hiding, or just hot on the trail of Katherine.

“Wow.” I say, searching for words.

“What that I’m that old, or the history, love?” He says, closing the book.

“Both. Neither. I don’t know!” I giggle. We’re still at the awkward stage, not knowing what to do next.

Sitting in silence, still processing everything, Rebekah and Elijah get up, each bidding us good night. Bonnie leaves soon after, saying she needs to check on her own house. Kol retires nearly immediately after. Walking up the stairs behind him, I stop almost hesitate at the door to Kla-our room.

Pushing open the door, I walk into the room, laying down on _my side_ of the bed. Ever since our first night together, I had claimed the left side of the massive bed. He comes out of the bathroom, just in a pair of boxers, and lies down next to me. I turn to him, so that we both are facing each other.

“Thank you… Klaus. For showing me that. I know your past means a lot to you.” I say planting a tender kiss on his cheek.

“The past is the past, love, good and bad. We can’t change it. We can only change the future.” He says, returning my kiss.

“Why aren’t you a poet?” I groan, laughing a bit at his “philosophical” quote.

“Because I’m an artist.” He said, playing with my hair, before rolling over and turning off the light, meeting my lips once again.

“You are Mr. Mikealson, indeed you are.”

 

 

 

 


	15. Letting It All Out

Bound By Blood

**Chapter 15: Letting it all Out**

_Laugh, and the world laughs with you;_

_Weep, and you weep alone;_

_For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth,_

_But has trouble enough of its own._

_Sing, and the hills will answer;_

_Sigh, it is lost on the air;_

_The echoes bound to a joyful sound,_

_But shrink from voicing care._

_Rejoice, and men will seek you;_

_Grieve, and they turn and go;_

_They want full measure of all your pleasure,_

_But they do not need your woe._

_Be glad, and your friends are many;_

_Be sad, and you lose them all,—_

_There are none to decline your nectared wine,_

_But alone you must drink life’s gall._

_Feast, and your halls are crowded;_

_Fast, and the world goes by._

_Succeed and give, and it helps you live,_

_But no man can help you die._

_There is room in the halls of pleasure_

_For a large and lordly train,_

_But one by one we must all file on_

_Through the narrow aisles of pain._

_-Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Solitude_

**Caroline POV**

I wake up to the chirping of birds, and the sounds of a heated argument downstairs. Again, Klaus is still asleep and by the ear-splitting noises coming from downstairs, Elijah is as well.

 “Your siblings need to learn volume control.” I grumble into Klaus’s chest, not having any intention of getting up. Damn vampire hearing.

“They’ve needed to learn a lot of things in a thousand years, yet none of those have happened.” Klaus says, with laughter in his voice.

“Are you going to get up and make them me quiet?” I ask, still hiding my face in his chest.

“No…” He says, lying back. I look up quickly shooting him a glare. “I think Miss Bennett already has that under control.” Hearing the new voice in the mix, Bonnie’s, the male one loses its volume rather quickly.

I realize it’s probably a good idea to get up, hating it. But, Bonnie was down there alone presumable with a plan or news. Though all I want to do today was lay next to Klaus.

Kol solves the problem however. Bursting into the room, with Bonnie trailing behind him, he takes one look at us, and jumps onto the bed.

“WHAT THE HELL KOL?” Klaus yells, throwing a pillow at the thousand year old child jumping on the bed. I groan burying my face back in my pillow. God, I feel like I’m the mom to this household. Kol catches the pillow, then hits his brother with it.

“THAT’S IT.” Klaus bellows, grabbing the other pillow and preparing for war, getting up. I roll a bit far to the left, trying to avoid the brotherly pillow fight, falling off the bed. Bonnie’s next to me to help me up, watching the two Originals try and kill each other with feathers.

Hitting each other in the head, and yelling at the tops of their voices  as they went, the brothers smiled.

“Ouch!” Kol shouted, as Klaus hit in the head, hard, the weapon bursting into feather confetti.

“Oops.” Klaus says, wide-eyed, but completely false innocent. He grabs another weapon as Kol goes for another hit in his stomach.  Laughing, they spar.

I glance at Bonnie, smiling. She’s staring with a similar grin on her face as well, amused at the two brothers antics. A thousand years and they’re still not past jumping on the bed and having pillow fights.

“What you doing at this ungodly hour?” Elijah groans, walking into the room, rubbing sleep out of his eyes.  Staring wide-eyed at the scene before him, the room covered in plumage, and his brothers boxing relentlessly with their two fluffy clubs, his calm, suave demeanor falls into one of pure astonishment.

The two fighters look over at their usual referee. Glancing once at each other, they throw their projectiles at his head, hitting him right on target.

Elijah stalks towards them, still in his silk pajamas. They clutch their weapons. Grabbing his own weapons, the eldest brother jumps up on the bed as well, hitting Klaus squarely in the head.

I see one of the fallen pillows from the floor and whack Bonnie with it playfully.

“You’re dead, Forbes.” She says grabbing another one from the floor. Hitting me playfully, I remember a time not too long ago when the three of us, Elena, Bonnie, and I, were doing this completely and utter ignorant.

  
I fake scream, as she hits me, on the side of the head. I duck, anticipating her second blow, and hitting her in the stomach. We turn towards the currently warring brothers, whose fight is much more dangerous than our own, due to the bouncing bed and addition of vampire strength.

Elijah has somehow ripped the arm of this pajama top, while Kol and Klaus, barely dressed as is in boxers, try to rip each other’s indestructible chest. I roll my eyes, glancing at Bonnie, and nodding towards the boys.

We begin to sneak up behind them, the boys too engrossed in their own ridiculous play fighting, to notice us coming in for a sneak attack. Maybe they are just too engrossed in the boyish love of being reckless, e. i. jumping on/destruction of the bed. And hitting their brothers.

Beginning to grab pillows from the bed, we hide them under the bed, them still oblivious. They have broken over ten so far, the count just going higher as particularly hard blows are delivered.

Grabbing the last two, Klaus picks me up from behind. I scream, laughing as he grabs me.

“What do you think you’re doing Miss Forbes.” He asks bringing his lips to my neck.

“Stealing your ammo.” I say coyly, letting him keep kissing my neck.

Kol hits Klaus on the head, yelling.

“KEEP IT PG LOVE BIRDS.” He jumps out of the range of Klaus as soon as he finishes the sentence, who takes a swipe at him; however he falls in Elijah’s range, getting a square hit in the head by the eldest Original. Kol falls off the bed with a groan.

We all wince, as he lands smack dab on his head, letting out an instinctive shout of pain. Bonnie rushes to him almost semi-consciously, almost with a caring look on her face.

What a scene we must have been. The witch holding the play boy vampire, his head in her lap, examining the bruise. Elijah, the one who always wears suits, who I had never even seen in jeans, was in a ribbed shirt, laughing at his brother, bending over the side of the bed to look down at the brother who he injured. The hybrid was still sort of bouncing on the bed, with my legs locked around his waist, oddly enough our preferred sex position.

That was the scene the rest of the Scooby doo gang found us in. Elena, a look of utter astonishment, and seconds later barely  disguised anger, painted her face. Damon, eyes wide and smirk plastered to his face. Stefan, holding hands with Rebekah, seemed surprised, though not angry, but surprised. Rebekah, however just rolled her eyes.

“If all of you are done being children, we have a meeting.”

Then she left us, still frozen in our positions, and the Doppelganger and her escort still processing.

*Bound By Blood*

We unfroze almost immediately, trying to return to the roles everyone expected us to play. Bonnie dropping Kol’s head, Elijah instantly turning austere, straightening his clothes. Me, dropping down from Klaus’s hips. Klaus, stepping in front of me almost protective, anticipating an attack.

Elijah is the first to speak.

“Would you mind waiting in the living room with our sister? We will only be a moment.” He says with authority, staring hardly at the trio. Stefan bolts from the uncomfortable, awkward situation almost as soon as Elijah finishes speaking. Damon and Elena stay a bit longer however.

“So… Vampire Barbie and Hybrid Ken like to play house…” He said, wiggling his eyebrows, then left the room with a livid Elena in tow. I got the feeling she had _a lot more_ to say to me and Bonnie.

“Get changed.” Elijah said simply walking out of the room. Kol eyes Bonnie as though asking if she would like to help, but the Bonnie she had shown moments earlier, the one who had a pillow fight, the one who cradled Kol’s head, had temporarily left with the entrance of Elena. She glares at him, and stalks out of the room.

He leaves the room, grumbling, slamming the door behind him.

Klaus jumps down from the bed and heads for the closet. I follow him, though turning into my own.

Something spiteful, something rebellious, however makes me grab a paint-stained oxford of his. Maybe I want to show them I’m my own person, that I make my own choice, I’ll never know. But, I grab it any way.

Pulling on a pair of cobalt blue pants, and grab a white tank top. Pulling both on I throw the Oxford on over, tying it into a shrug.

Then I observe my formidable collection of shoes. Nothing. In utter and absolute frustration, I grab a pair of nude heels. Boring, but reliable.

I walk over the vanity, to do my make-up, deciding something. I’m no longer safe, boring Caroline. I need to be a risk-taker. I need to fight for the life I now have.

Doing make-up at vampire speed, I let my hair down from its bunned prison from the night before. It had dried into a perfect spiral, making my hair into perfect S-shaped waves. I sigh in relief, glad that for once I had a good hair day.

Through the mirror, I spot Klaus coming up behind me. He wraps his arms around me, looking at both of us in the looking glass. The people look happy, as though there isn’t a cloud of dread blanketing the downstairs of the house. He wears a pair of dark jeans, his collection of necklaces, a navy Henley, and a combat jacket that he seemed awfully fond of.

“What is with you and stealing my clothes?” He asks playfully, kissing me from behind. We seem to like this position. Fitting of our relationship in a way, we sneak up on each other, like we weren’t supposed to fall in love, but it just snuck up on us. We both fought it. Yet, it happened.

“I don’t know.” I say, getting up and going to the jewelry cabinet, looking over the large selection.

“Here” He says, grabbing an intricate diamond necklace, that looked as though it was a piece of clock cog work done in diamond. Wordlessly, I nod and he unclasps it placing it around it my neck. Fixing the clasp, he kisses me on the cheek, then walks out of the room.

“I’m ready when you are love.” He calls. I turn around to grab a small pair of diamond tear drop earrings and the bracelet. Clasping the jewelry on, and taking one last glance at my reflection, I walk out of the room to join Klaus.

*Bound By Blood*

We walked into a lion’s den, though who is the lion was not exactly clear.

We sat in almost the same formation as we had at boarding house, though everyone seemed very different.

Or maybe it was just Elena.

There was something decidedly off with her, like she wasn’t herself. Her expression was beyond angry, barely concealed rage, and the daggers she glared at me and Bonnie stabbed at my heart.

“Why are you here?” Klaus says in an icy tone, clearly less than pleased with their unneeded interruption.

“We’ll we sort of need to find Katherine, so I don’t we don’t die.” Damon said sarcastically. Klaus rolls his eyes. “I’m been trying to get in contact with everyone I know. Anyone that’s good at tracking people down. I have nothing.”

“Maybe you just don’t know the right people Damon. We however…” Elijah said, gesturing to the group.

“Who can we call?” I said, getting a piece of paper out to start a list. I already know a couple of names, like Marcel, the CIA, and British Intelligence. Klaus had done a lot with them over the years so they still would be good contacts.

Elena pipes up, using a cold harsh voice, so unlike her usually warm, upbeat tone.

“How about you call the real Caroline? Because this sure as hell isn’t her.”

“What do you mean?” I say, confused. This isn’t her. Yet it is at the same time…

“The real Caroline Forbes wouldn’t be here. The real Caroline Forbes died the moment that monster that you’re fucking saved you! Honestly, I can’t believe you are even sleeping with him, much less living with him! You sold out your friends, your boyfriend, and most of all- you sold out yourself.” She states, calmly, but as bitchily as possible. I feel tears start to well up in my eyes. She’s right. What the hell is wrong with me? I should have died that night. I was always meant to die.

Yet, I still find those last traces of bitch in my system to lash out at her.

“Really? Says the girl who strings two brothers across, making both of them her lapdogs. Says the girl who _used to be_ kind, and would always be there for her friends. Well guess what? Caroline Forbes had to change because when I was turned no one gave a fuck. I was turned for the fun of it!” I was yelling now, seeming to take out all the frustrations I had ever since I had turned.

“I was isolated when I turned. I didn’t know what was going on or what the hell was happening. No one cared! And then all those _wonderful_ memories that had been wiped from my memory by _your_ boyfriend all came back. Can I remind you that Damon used me as a toy? That I was a sex toy and blood bag for months and no one noticed?” I forgot Klaus was even there, yet I had meant to never tell him about Damon. Apparently his reaction was well judged. He lunged at Damon, his fangs bared, ready to rip the bastard throat out. Before he could however, Damon was gone, out of the room, as fast as he could go.

“No one cares! You pretended to care when it was convenient for you when really I was just a nuisance until my services were needed. To distract Klaus. Well apparently in this fucked up town the “bad guy” actually cares about some dumb blonde who should have died a long time ago.” I was too caught up in the moment to stop now. I had to finish.

“When he saved me from Tyler’s bite, he was the only person to actually listen to what I had been saying for months. I didn’t think I was important enough to be alive anymore. And again, and again and again, Klaus proved to be a better person that all of you. Who ignored me, and used me, and so what if he’s a murderer! All of us are!” I finish in a long breath, starting to cry. I had just let out basically everything I had thought, felt, yet never said for a year.

Elena comes up to me, her eyes cold.

“Maybe you would be better off dead, _we_ wouldn’t miss you.” Then she took off behind my former abuser.

I flew back upstairs. Maybe I was better off dead.

*Bound By Blood*

**Klaus POV**

All of us sat there in shock. Caroline. I hadn’t realized that I had saved her life, both physically and emotionally that night. I hadn’t realized all that she had been through. I suddenly had the keen desire to find Damon Salvatore and push a stake through his heart ,but decided against it, knowing Caroline needed me here.

“Bonnie? Does Caroline need you?” I ask, turning to the witch.

Her head is down in her hands. Kol has his hand on her back. She doesn’t tell him to remove it, she just sits there, looking down.

“Bonnie?” Kol asks. “Are you ok?”

“No. No I’m not.” She says, shaking her head. “I caused this too. I wouldn’t speak to her for months and even after I didn’t see the warning signs. I should have known.” Hollow. That’s what she sounds like. Lifeless. Realizing she’s no help, I get up, and walk up the stairs.

Entering the bedroom, no one’s there. I listen for a second, picking up the soft sound of sobbing. I follow the sound, reaching a door hidden by curtains. The balcony.

She sits off the side, behind a large potted topiary. Bending down, I put an arm on her shoulder, and another under her chin forcing her to look me in the eyes.

“Caroline.” Tears are still running down her face, her lip trembled. She was finally breaking on the outside, as she had been breaking on the inside since she was a child.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” She shakes her head. She won’t tell me anything now. She just needed me to be there.

“Come here love.” I take her into my arms, moving her out from the corner. She settles into my chest, and just cries harder. My heart breaks for her, wanting to do _something. Anything._  They didn’t deserve her tears.

Yet, I just let her cry there.

*Bound By Blood*

I had let her cry herself out. When she finally fell asleep out of exhaustion, I carried her back to bed and just lay with her. A couple of times, my siblings popped their heads in, seeing if she was awake.

Sweet Caroline.

No one had known how broken she had been. I had only a slight idea, I had felt _something_ just not clicking with her when I met her. Yet, I admired her perseverance, she had retained her light even when everyone else had abandoned her.

I would never abandon her. I promised myself that. Most of all, I hoped she would never abandon me. Yet, I would never walk out the door like everyone else in her life.

She began to stir as the sunset set.  Opening her eyes, she looked up at me gravely.

“I’m sorry.” She whispered. I smile reassuringly at her.

“What for love?”

“Everything.”

I had planned what I was going to do when we woke up well. I got up, to her murmur of protest and turned around, offering her my hand.

“Come on love, I have something to show you.”

*Bound By Blood*

**Caroline POV**

“Why did you take me out here again?” I ask, as Klaus leads me through the woods with a basket in my hands. I didn’t know what was it in, only that he had forced it into my hands as we left.

It was dust, the sky a collection of colors that I couldn’t even name. Klaus pulled me along, his face set in a boyish grin. I smiled for his sake.

“To show you something!” He says, a bit of laughter in his voice. We enter the clearing where I had recited the poem yesterday- had it only been yesterday?

Taking the basket from me, he opens it, pulling out a blanket and places it out of the ground.

“Sit.” Looking down at him, his eyes twinkle with some sort of mischievous inner fire that I had never seen before. Never the less, I sit down next to him. His arm goes around me automatically, pulling me closer into him.

“You know, I wouldn’t have made it much more than a year had I stayed human.” He said quietly, looking up at the sky, where stars were beginning to appear.

“Why?”

“Being in the village, the only occupation was hunter. I would have killed someone eventually activating the werewolf gene, exposing my mother. And my father… Well he hated me already.” He said simply.

“Do you remember what you told me the other night?” I nod my head, remembering the comment about loneliness.

“I’ve learned over the years that there are no coincidences in nature. I was meant to find you Caroline. I was meant to save you, to do that one bit of good in someone’s life. I guess I was meant for good. I just lost my way.”

He looks at me with his deep penetrating eyes. All I want to do is express how much he means to me, how much this… love? Emotion? That he has for me, has brought me back from the edge.

I settle for a long drawn out kiss. Our lips meeting each time, I want to tell him over and over again “I love you.” I want to have him here with me, forever. I wish I could tell him everything, but this kiss, the passion we both throw into it, it’s unreal.

Is this what happens when two people love each other? They find their life again. I had fallen from mine a long time ago, he almost a thousand years before.

We break the kiss, our lips still lingering however on each other’s. I place one of my hands on his cheek and close my eyes, wanting to just _feel_ him. He lies back on the blanket, I moving with him, so that we both are staring up at the sky.

“You know.” He begins, pointing to the pinpoints of light dotting the dark canvas of the heavens above us, “Stars are the few things in this life that never change. I looked up at these same set when I was a boy, and a thousand years from now, they’ll still be here.”

I look at him, constantly in awe of his poetic nature.

“I just hope it there with you.” I say, leaning into his chest. We just lie there, looking up, lost in ourselves, each other, and the stars.                                                                                                                                                                                            

 

         


	16. Leaving

**Note: All the people who I have talked about that Klaus knew in the 40’s were actually real people. I sort of have a history fetish, so I guess I’ll be weaving a bit of it into the story. Anyways just google MI5 Double Cross if you’re interested in it, it’s really fascinating.**

**Also, feel free to PM me with any questions, or follow me on tumblr at swingklaroline or louoftherings.**

**-xoxo Katarhyne**

Bound By Blood

**Chapter 16: Leaving**

_Lying asleep between the strokes of night_

_I saw my love lean over my sad bed,_

_Pale as the duskiest lily’s leaf or head,_

_Smooth-skinned and dark, with bare throat made to bite,_

_Too wan for blushing and too warm for white,_

_But perfect-coloured without white or red._

_And her lips opened amorously, and said –_

_I wist not what, saving one word – Delight._

_And all her face was honey to my mouth,_

_And all her body pasture to mine eyes;_

_The long lithe arms and hotter hands than fire,_

_The quivering flanks, hair smelling of the south,_

_The bright light feet, the splendid supple thighs_

_And glittering eyelids of my soul’s desire._

_-Algernon Charles Swinburne, Love and Sleep_

**Caroline POV**

I hadn’t remembered coming inside. Yet, I woke up in the bed. Our bed. Lying next to Klaus made me feel so safe.

We always slept in the same position. My head on his chest, my body molding into the curves of his, while his arms hold me tight, his head just directly above mine. I had never spent the night with anyone before, they would always sneak out after the sex.

I guess it’s true.  The man you love, fucks you then wakes you up too.  I push myself up on his chest, looking down at him.

I always have to wake him up, I guess. With a mischievous grin, I bend down and begin to plant kisses down his neck.

He starts to stir, groaning .

“Caroline.” His eyes are still shut, though his mouth is agape. I giggle, still planting feather-like kisses on his chest.

“Caroline.” He says again, elongating my name into something exotic and sexy. Or maybe that’s just his accent.

His eyes snap open as I got lower, playing with the band of his boxers. Grabbing me, he flips us, pressing me down onto the mattress.

“Good morning angel.” He says huskily, holding himself off of me, while bending down to meet my lips.

Passionate. I run my hands up his lean, muscled torso as he plays with my lacy bra strap, tugging it down a bit further each time.

His tongue sneaks into my mouth, meeting mine eagerly. I stop running hands down his sides, and begin to tug at the boxers again. We keep tugging on each other’s little garments, mouths still joined.

RIPPPP. I break the kiss to look down the bra strap that had ripped. He wears his “innocent puppy” look that tell me that he’s not sorry at all. I fling it off, tossing it somewhere into the room, and make a move for his boxers. We meet again, this time, on our knees, more aggressively, more needy, this time.

Need. I tear those infernal boxers off as he tugs my panties down to my knees. I place my arms around his neck, smiling a bit in the kiss, and wrap my legs around his hips, kicking off the underwear as I went.

Finally. I can feel him smirking in the kiss as well, as we become one, him entering slowly. God.

I roll m hips against his, tightening my legs. Not even exiting, still together, we fall back, him on top of me. Running my nails down his back as he begins to thrust rhythmically, I moan in pleasure.

“Klaus. Don’t stop.”

He starts to thrust faster, nearing his climax as I near mine. He stops for a second, I groan in frustration. Yet, he started again almost as quickly as he stopped, only this time his hybrid features came into play.

He was bent over my neck, fangs on the skin, dancing over then, searching for the perfect place to mark.

My collarbone. He sensually bites, I groan, feeling his all over me. Inside of me, thrusting to a beat only he could hear. Drinking from me, feeling my life force being drained.

My own vampiric feature come into play as he drinks and thrusts. I was close, needing the release. He was closer thrusting more and more sporadically, breathe labored.

Coming up from my neck in a shuddering breathe, he released into me.

With that, I attacked his neck as he rode the wave of his own climax.

His blood was heavenly. I drank getting closer and closer. He was going down from a high, I was going up.

With a massive sigh of pleasure, I released him still in me.

Once I came down from the high, he rolled off of me, back to his side of the bed. We just lay there, listening to each other’s steady breathing.

He props himself up onto one arm and looks over at me.

“That was amazing.” He stated. I grin.

He gets up, walking into the bathroom, presumable to get clothes.

I lie back, eyes shut in almost sleep mode until he returns, in a pair of non-ripped boxers.

He holds a bra and panties for me, along with one of his Henley’s. Smiling at him gratefully, I begin to slip them on, stopping however when I hear shouting. I pause, listening.

“FUCK BONNIE!” I hear Kol yell before the explosion.

*Bound By Blood*

I rush to put the rest of the clothes on while Klaus vamp speeds out of the room.

I follow him a split second later.

Smoke fills the hallway, spilling out of the door to Kol’s room, which is thrown  open.

Fully expecting the signs of a fight, I come into the room.

Klaus is looking down at his brother, who has scorch marks all over his face and Bonnie, who is on top of him, her hair a mess, both laughing.

“Would you like to tell me what is going on Kol?” he says menacingly.

“We were trying to do a locator spell.” He begins trying to control his laughter. Once it’s under control, he continues. “But, Katherine was blocking us somehow. And…. Well when there’s too much energy in the spell it has to go _somewhere._ ” He finished, gesturing around the room, before meeting Bonnie’s eyes again and collapsing into laughter.

Klaus and I share an eyeroll, before breaking down into laughter alone with duo.

Elijah, Rebekah, and Stefan burst into the room, wild eyed.

“What happened? Who died?” She says rushing in, with a worried look on her face. After seeing the scene, however she lets out an exasperated sigh.

“Why am I stuck with you again?”

“Because you love me, dear sister.” Kol says, getting up, pulling Bonnie up with him. She’s wearing the same clothes as yesterday, as is Stefan.

Rebekah rolls her eyes, punching him in the arm.

“Did you guys honestly pull an all nighter?” I ask looking at everyone’s clothes. Elijah’s suit looked slept in, the usually perfectly ironed pieces rumpled. Rebekah’s makeup was in less than perfect condition. And Stefan’s hair, well I just hope he hadn’t looked in a mirror this morning.

I couldn’t even see the state of Kol and Bonnie’s clothes under the remnants of the explosion.

“We only started research at like 5…” Stefan said, looking me up and down. I realize I had forgotten pants, pulling the Henley down to try and compensate.

“And we all fell asleep by 1.” Rebekah finished.

“So what do you have done?” Klaus asked, a bit irritated.

“Come and see.” Elijah said, before walking out the door.

*Bound By Blood*

The living room looked as though a paper tornado had hit it. There were old file folders everywhere, with about 5 laptops scattered about the room.

“We went through all your old files.” Elijah announced, throwing folders this way and that, trying to get to a laptop.

“Most of your contacts are dead now. Marcel is alive, but in total recluse mode, you’ll have to go straight to him.” Kol said, reading off of one of the screens. He looks up.

“Who did you turn during the 40’s?”

“I turned many people during that time.” Klaus replied, walking over to look at Kol’s computer screen. I came over as well, looking at a flow chart. It was a list of names, of contacts.

“There’s this guy that appears a bunch of times in your shit over the years, Nik. Says you met him in the 40’s.”

“During my intelligence service times? You mean Jebsen? Yah, I gave him vampire blood. The whole damn team had blood. They all knew my secret.” He said nonchalantly.

“I called him… Apparently he’s collected quite a team. Supernatural intelligence. Supposedly dead agents turned vampires.” Klaus looks up interested.

“He says he can track her down. He also has some stuff on Silas. We should pay him a visit.” Klaus nods, then turning to Stefan and Rebekah.

“Did you get in touch with _anyone_ from the old days? Gloria?”

“No one is in a phone book. We _could_ go look around though.” Stefan says. Klaus huffs, exasperated at his siblings. I take charge during his “thinking moment.”

“Kol, can you print out all living contacts? Elijah, where is Katherine’s favorite places? Rebekah, Stefan, write up a list of every supernatural you remember.  Anyone useful. I’ll look through the files.”

We all get to work, Klaus _still_ thinking.

“Kol, ,what’s Jebsen’s number again?” Klaus asks, getting up and taking out his cell phone. As Kol recites the number, Klaus walks out of the room letting the phone ring in his ear.

I hear a man’s voice on the other end say a light accented greeting, Klaus returning it in the same language, German by the sound of it. They speak in rapid fire German, that I can’t understand.

Distracting myself with the huge packet of papers Kol had just handed me, I split the stack up to three sections, handing one to Bonnie and Kol.

“Color code by region.” I say, throwing down a handful of highlighters.

We work quietly, listening to the click-clack of keyboards and Klaus’s voice. A couple of pages in, he switches to English.

“Miami? One week. Got it, thank you Johann.” He says curtly, coming back into the room with a slight smirk on his face. He ends the call and looks at us.

“Rebekah, Stefan, Chicago. The supernatural community is still pretty good there. Elijah, check all Katherine’s old haunts, Tahiti, Hong Kong, India, Turkey. Kol, you and Bonnie are coming with Caroline and me.” He says, with a sense of finality. He was the general, ordering the troops.

“And where are we going brother?” Kol asks, eyebrows raised.

“Miami, then New Orleans, then who knows?” He says, raising his eyebrows similarly to his “I’m not telling look.”

God, he infuriates me.

*Bound By Blood*

“What should I pack?” I ask Bonnie searching through my closet, she sat on the chaise, making a list on her phone of stuff _she_ needed to pack.

“I don’t know! Um… Swim suit? Lingerie?” She said smiling; I throw a shoe at her. She easily dodges it. “You do know that we could hear you this morning.”

“Shut up.” I say, my face bright red. I just throw in about half my closet into a Louis Vuitton steamer trunk that Rebekah had given me, something about traveling in style. “How about you? I’ve seen how Kol looks at you. And I’ve seen you checking out his ass.” She shook her head, though with a guilty expression. Bonnie was a horrible liar.

“Care, I’m…. I’m sorry… About everything.” She said, looking down. “I shut you out when you turned, when you needed us most. And no one deserves that. I am so, so sorry Care.”

Bonnie has those old soul eyes. Eyes that can tell you emotions beyond the human realm. Hers  glistened with tears, empathy, begging for forgiveness.

God knows I need a friend right now more than ever.

Wordlessly, we hug as if we weren’t Caroline the vampire and Bonnie the witch, we hug as we did as perky freshman waiting for dances and graduation. We felt like our old selves again. They were still in there rattling around. Yet, we couldn’t erase the past. We could only repair the future.

I laugh, breaking the hug, feeling for myself than I had in months.

“So… what are _you_ going to pack?” I ask, back to girl talk.

“Not what’s in your suitcase.” She said, laughing.

“Come on! You have to admit you at least find Kol attractive.” She shakes her head. “Admit it!”

“Ok fine. Kol _is_ attractive.”

“And that you enjoy his flirting with you.” I say, pressing on.

She rolls her eyes at me, before nodding.

“And, you _did_ admit that the kiss was nice.” Her head is in her hands, looking extremely stressed. I bump into her in a playful way.

“OK. FINE.  IT WAS PASSIONATE. IT WAS REALLY, REALLY GOOD!” She yells, throwing her hands down. We look at each other and burst into giggles.

 “Do you remember what I said when I was still an insecure neurotic control freak?”

“Caroline. You still are an insecure neurotic control freak.” She says, not helping.

“No, I’m an insecure neurotic control freak _on crack._ I mean when I was human.”

Understanding lights up her face. I think she knows where I’m going with this.

“Boy likes Girl. Girl likes Boy. Sex” We say together, then collapsing into giggles all over again.

“So what are you waiting for? Get your own slice of hot Original ass!” I say, trying to motivate her. They were a good couple. She kept him from being a complete ass and he kept her from destroying everything.

“I just might.” She said, walking out of the room.

“WAIT UNTIL YOU’RE WEARING GOOD PANTIES.” I yell after her.

Oh Bonnie.

*Bound By Blood*

“KOL! GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE _NOW_ OR WE ARE LEAVING WITHOUT YOU.” I heard Bonnie yell. She had only just got here throwing two suitcases in the back of the sleek black SUV. The Original had yet to grace us with his annoying presence, probably trying to cram every last amount of liquor into his bags. Like Miami didn’t have alcohol.

Klaus was in the driver’s seat next to me, sipping on a blood bag from the cooler in the back. He looked exasperated, tired, even though I had done all his packing for him.

He honked the horn again, as Kol comes out rolling a huge suitcase and trying to balance a box. Bonnie was not even visible behind a stack of her own, towering over her head.

“Bloody hell, Kol.” Klaus said, as his brother opened the trunk and began shoving boxes in. “What the fuck is that?”

“Grimories.” He said nonchalantly, taking the stack from Bonnie.

“And _why_ do we need grimories?” Klaus asked, teeth gritted, glaring at him.

“You never know. Magic is useful. But, this is only _part_ of my collection. I assume the rest are in New Orleans with our dear friend Marcel.” He said almost resentfully, as he entered into the back seat, as though wanting to constantly remind Klaus _who_ exactly left him in a coffin for a century.

“Stop fighting and drive.” I said curtly, tired of this constant bickering. He puts the car into drive, as I share an eyeroll with Bonnie. This was going to be a _long_ trip.

*Bound By Blood*

“Are we there yet?”  I heard Kol ask for about the thousandth time as we crossed the border into North Carolina. We had only been driving for about an hour, yet Kol didn’t seem to comprehend that cars couldn’t vamp speed everywhere.

Luckily Bonnie had been relentless in her punches in the past hour, probably giving him a mildly sore arm. Every comment he said equaled one punch.

“So…”Kol said, grabbing a bottle of tequila and a couple of  glasses out of a large bag at his feet, “Anyone up for some drinking games?”

Klaus made a grunt of “give me the drink **now** and no one gets hurt.” His brother hands him a shot, then hands the other two glasses to me and Bonnie.

I take a long sip out of mine, waiting for his extremely uncomfortable question. Yet, when it did, It wasn’t directed at me.

“So… Bonnie… Are you a virgin?” He asks. She spews her drink.

“Excuse me?” She chokes out, I’m laughing, and Klaus has just a bit of a smirk on his face, taking a sip of his drink, though his eyes never leave the road.

“So who was it?” Kol says curtly over his drink, suddenly all business.

“I am SO not telling you.”  She said, hitting him again. If he wasn’t a vampire, I swear he would have a broken arm by now. “How about you ask Caroline? We all could hear them this morning.”

Bonnie was evil. She knew how to play Kol just right, embarrassing his brothers being a favorite pastime of his, and not telling him.

Klaus and my faces were red, just praying that he hadn’t heard anything _too bad._ I quickly try to divert, plugging up my iPod into the speakers. Bonnie perks up at the option of not having to listen to Kol and grabs the device from me, scrolling through my playlists.

She finds a song that she likes and sits back, throwing the phone up to the front. Lana del Ray, blares from the speakers. Why did Bonnie have to play this song? I mean God and Monsters.

_In the land of Gods and Monsters_

_I was an angel_

_Living in the garden of evil_

_Screwed up, scared, doing anything that I needed_

_Shining like a fiery beacon_

Klaus was looking at me again. He had called me an angel this morning. In the throes of passion yes, but how he’s drawn me, painted us, he seems to see a sort of light that I just can’t see.

_You got that medicine I need_

_Fame, liquor, love, give it to me slowly_

_Put your hands on my waist do it softly_

_Me and God, we don't get along, so now I sing_

I don’t belong with the angels. I wouldn’t get along with God, is guess. I’m a killer, friend of killers, lover of a killer. I’d be surprised if Heaven even let me _see_ the gates.

_No one's gonna take my soul away_

_Living like Jim Morrison_

_Headed towards a fucked up holiday_

_Motel, sprees, sprees and I'm singing_

My humanity can’t be turned off. Elena turned hers off, I realized. Yet, since I became a vampire, I have seen a whole new spectrum of emotions that has just been flying over my head. I won’t be a soulless blood sucker. I want to _live life,_ experience every single up and down to the last drop.

_Fuck yeah, give it to me_

_This is heaven_

_What I truly want_

_Is innocence lost._

_Innocence lost._

I lost my innocence the night I turned. I lost my innocence the night I walked out on my friends. I lost my innocence when everyone walked out on me.

_In the land of Gods and Monsters_

_I was an angel_

_Looking to get fucked hard_

_Like a groupie incognito_

_Posing as a real singer_

_Life imitates art_

Art. Klaus’s art seemed to pour all his bottled up emotions from a thousand years. It also showed a life he wanted to live. A man he wanted tobe.

_You got that medicine that I need_

_Dope, shoot it up, straight to the heart please_

_I don't really wanna know what's good for me_

_God's dead, I said 'Baby that's alright with me'_

I’ve been lost for a long time now. I don’t know where I’m going to be a year or a thousand. But, I know at this moment, it feels good.  Feels right.

_No one's gonna take my soul away_

_Living like Jim Morrison_

_headed towards a fucked up holiday_

_Motel, speed, sprees and I'm singing_

_Fuck yeah, give it to me_

_This is heaven_

_What I truly want_

_Is innocence lost._

_Innocence lost._

_When you talk, it's like a movie and you're making me crazy_

_'Cause life imitates art_

_If I get a little prettier, can I be your baby?_

_You tell me life isn't that hard_

I had always wanted to be a little better. A little smarter, a little prettier, just a bit _more._ I just wanted to be recognized. But, I try too hard.

_No one's gonna take my soul away_

_I'm living like Jim Morrison_

_Headed towards a fucked up holiday_

_Motel, speed, sprees, and I'm singing_

_Fuck yeah, give it to me_

_This is heaven_

_What I truly want_

_Is innocence lost._

_Innocence lost._

The song’s fading out, I’m looking at Klaus who has held my eyes the whole time. We understand each other more than we can even realize.

We should have found each other a long time ago.


	17. Traverse

Bound By Blood

**Chapter XVII: Traverse**

_Where the quiet-coloured end of evening smiles,_

_Miles and miles_

_On the solitary pastures where our sheep_

_Half-asleep_

_Tinkle homeward thro' the twilight, stray or stop_

_As they crop—_

 

_Was the site once of a city great and gay,_

_(So they say)_

 

_Of our country's very capital, its prince_

_Ages since_

_Held his court in, gathered councils, wielding far_

_Peace or war._

_Now the country does not even boast a tree,_

_As you see,_

_To distinguish slopes of verdure, certain rills_

_From the hills_

_Intersect and give a name to, (else they run_

_Into one)_

_Where the domed and daring palace shot its spires_

_Up like fires_

_O'er the hundred-gated circuit of a wall_

_Bounding all_

_Made of marble, men might march on nor be prest_

_Twelve abreast._

_And such plenty and perfection, see, of grass_

_Never was!_

_Such a carpet as, this summer-time, o'er-spreads_

_And embeds_

_Every vestige of the city, guessed alone,_

_Stock or stone—_

_Where a multitude of men breathed joy and woe_

_Long ago;_

_Lust of glory pricked their hearts up, dread of shame_

_Struck them tame;_

_And that glory and that shame alike, the gold_

_Bought and sold._

_Now—the single little turret that remains_

_On the plains,_

_By the caper overrooted, by the gourd_

_Overscored,_

_While the patching houseleek's head of blossom winks_

_Through the chinks—_

_Marks the basement whence a tower in ancient time_

_Sprang sublime,_

_And a burning ring, all round, the chariots traced_

_As they raced,_

_And the monarch and his minions and his dames_

_Viewed the games._

_And I know, while thus the quiet-coloured eve_

_Smiles to leave_

_To their folding, all our many-tinkling fleece_

_In such peace,_

_And the slopes and rills in undistinguished grey_

_Melt away—_

_That a girl with eager eyes and yellow hair_

_Waits me there_

_In the turret whence the charioteers caught soul_

_For the goal,_

_When the king looked, where she looks now, breathless, dumb_

_Till I come._

_But he looked upon the city, every side,_

_Far and wide,_

_All the mountains topped with temples, all the glades'_

_Colonnades,_

_All the causeys, bridges, aqueducts,—and then_

_All the men!_

_When I do come, she will speak not, she will stand,_

_Either hand_

_On my shoulder, give her eyes the first embrace_

_Of my face,_

_Ere we rush, ere we extinguish sight and speech_

_Each on each._

_In one year they sent a million fighters forth_

_South and North,_

_And they built their gods a brazen pillar high_

_As the sky_

_Yet reserved a thousand chariots in full force—_

_Gold, of course._

_O heart! oh blood that freezes, blood that burns!_

_Earth's returns_

_For whole centuries of folly, noise and sin!_

_Shut them in,_

_With their triumphs and their glories and the rest!_

_Love is best._

_-Robert Browning, Love among the Ruins_

**Caroline POV** ****  
I wake up as a car door slams shut. Men’s voices talking in hushed whispers. A pair of strong arms lift me up, carrying me against a firm chest. My eyes open just a bit as I’m placed into another soft leather seat  
I look up at the man who had carried me so carefully and notice him buckling me in with a seatbelt. His profile is illuminated by the moonlight; deep azure eyes showing fathomless emotion as he does his best to make me safe. I’m amazed by such a simple gesture from the immortal hybrid.   
“Klaus.” I whispered, my throat dry from God knows how many hours of sleep.  
“Shhhh.” He says, placing a finger to my lips. He brushes a stray lock of hair from my face and lays a delicate kiss on my forehead. My eyes close again, feeling safe.  
His touch leaves me. A car door slams. An engine starts. Movement jerks the car as it speeds forward.  
I drift off the sleep to the steady rumble of the engine and the passing miles under my feet.

 

*Bound By Blood*

Klaus POV  
The city lights flew past. Kol was at the wheel, driving at least 30 miles over the speed limit. I made no effort to stop him. Who was he going to hurt at midnight on a lonely Florida highway?  
Caroline had fallen into the clutches of sleep around eight and Bonnie succumbed soon after. Kol and I however seemed to possess a sort of endless energy that could only be explained by a millennium of running.  
I turned back to look at her. Her long golden hair, looking silvery in the moonlight, was tangled and thrown over her face in a mask. I could hear her breathing, slow and steady, rhythmic.  
The city began to come into view; the lights reflecting over the calm water. This city is no different from any of the others I’ve been in over the centuries. Endless Noise, people, buildings, lights. A hive of mere mortals who flit about, believing their trivial worries are the most important in the world.  
Kol gets off the highway, following the directions of the GPS, taking us to the home I own on the beach, the beachfront penthouse.  
3 AM in a city I barely knew. This had been my life for a thousand years, every day waking up to a new set of noises, people, buildings, and lights. But in the end they blend together all the same. What made the places were not the grand monuments and the spectacular homes, but the people I met, the experiences.  
I didn’t remember everything from the last  thousand years, but, what I do remember is marked with strong emotion; the good and the bad. I had lived life with my humanity switched I had still felt, unable to completely let go.  
The things that i felt were like a tsunami in their power. A human would have only experienced what equated to a mere wave hitting the shore.  
Love, anger, joy, rage. I had felt them all until there wasn’t anything left.  
We drive parallel to the beach. I see the waves crashing, a steady drum beat to my own heart.

 

*Bound By Blood*

Caroline POV  
I was being moved again. A pair of strong arms held me, cradled like a child in his arms. We must be in a building, for the light burned through my eyelids. I turned into Klaus’s chest, trying to block out that bothersome brightness.  
He was speaking in hushed tones to someone, Kol probably. I try and listen, as tired as I may be.  
“I only have two bedrooms in the apartment. You can just share with Bonnie.” Klaus whispered.  
I could almost hear the smirk in Kol’s voice when he spoke.  
“We won’t find a problem with that.”  
I feel one of the arms holding me reach out and punch his brother in the arm. Hard.  
“Ouch!” He cries out in pain.  
“Don’t do anything stupid Kol, she’s a witch, a powerful one, that can tear your head apart.” Klaus says, dangerously.  
His brother is quiet after that. I assume that we are in an elevator, as a occasional ding every few moment accompanies our ascent.  
Eventually the elevator car stops and I am carried somewhere else. Through a door and ,finally, I’m paced on a bed.  
“I’ll be right back love.” He whispers in my ear, not knowing I’m somewhat awake.  
The bed is soft, a feather mattress that might trap me forever in it’s comfortable clutches. The mattress wins a battle I don’t try to fight as I drift asleep once more.

*Bound By Blood*

 

I can hear waves crashing somewhere. I slowly opening my eyes and look around.  
The sound is coming from an open door, leading to a balcony. The sun is just barely above the horizon line, outlined by a thin bank of fog.  
We are still in the clothes we traveled in. Klaus is lying face down on top of the comforter, snoring softly.  
Getting up, I go exploring, leaving the door half open.  
The apartment is small, but well furnished. A balcony stretches the length of the entire home, with a plunge pool spilling over the edge.  
There was only one other bedroom. Across the hall from our own, the door is still thrown open to reveal the two figures tangled on the bed.  
Kol is wrapped around Bonnie. Their limbs were splayed and it’s difficult to tell when one begins and the other ends.  
I smile a bit as I realize that Kol and by extension, Klaus, were going to get an earful when Bonnie woke up.  
The kitchen and living room were joined, with a wall over glass leading to the balcony on one end.  
Needing caffeine,  I search the cabinets. I find what I’m looking for just  above the fancy coffee maker,  that appears to be the same model as the one at their Mystic Falls home.  
I throw open the doors to balcony as I wait and wander out, leaving them open.  
It was humid, and much hotter than it had been in Virginia. The city looked barely populated, the beach an abandoned stretch of sand.  
I just stand there and watch the sun rise over the foreign city.  
The coffee machine beeps and beckons me over with the scent of the caffeinated grounds. Klaus is there first, however, pouring his own cup of awakening brew.  
I move him out of the way with a playful shove, grabbing the pot and pouring some into my own mug. He’s at least semi-conscious now, already having drained half of the cup.  
Planting a coffee flavored kiss on my lips, he walks out to the balcony and stares out at the skyline. I smile at the domesticity and get to work on breakfast.  
Regarding the fridge critically, I begin to pull out various items. It seems to be fully stocked with food and blood.  I decide to go easy on myself and cook pancakes, heating up a pan.  
I’m enjoying the sounds of crashing waves and birds singing as I sip my coffee, busying myself with breakfast. The peace is broken as a very displeased witch starts yelling from the next room.

 

*Bound By Blood*

Bonnie POV  
As consciousness returns, I realize that there’s a body draped over mine. A warm, alive body that can only belong to a _certain_ Original pain in the ass.  
“WHAT THE FUCK?” I scream, infuriated that he slept _on top of me,_ sharing _my_ bed.  
“Wah?” He says sleepily as I try and push him to the ground. He’s heavy, heavier than I expected.   
“Good morning sweetheart.”   
His hair flops over his hazel eyes peering at me like a puppy dog. He’s still not off the hook. No amount of adorableness will get him out of this.  
Caroline runs into the room, Klaus closely behind her. She has coffee in her hand! She had made coffee, and had _not_ bothered to rescue me from the dick on top of me?  
“GET. OFF.” I yell, pushing him. Couldn’t he have dropped me _anywhere_ else? His eyes are shut, probably with the full intention of going back to sleep. Hell, no.  
I pushed him one last time with more force, throwing him off the bed.  
“Thanks for rejecting me darling.” He said smoothly from the floor, immobile and facedown on the carpet. “I did carry you up here.”  
“AND WHY THE HELL DID YOU NOT PUT ME IN MY OWN ROOM?” He is so infuriating as he just lays there, smirking up at me.  
“Because this is your room, love.”   
I look at him, not understanding what he was implying. Why the hell was he in _my_ room.  
“We’re sharing.”

 

*Bound By Blood*

Kol POV  
I had known Bonnie was going to throw a fit, yet, I couldn’t resist teasing her a bit. She was just so _fun._ I guess I couldn’t help myself.  
I hadn’t _meant_ to fall asleep on top of her. I had put her down and hone back to grab our bags. I had meant to sleep on the chair in the room, but, the bed had looked comfortable. And it was 4 AM. And… well… she _is_ pretty.  
She isn’t just pretty. She’s stunning. Particularly when she’s trying to verbally kill Nik and I simultaneously.  
She’s yelling at him, something about choosing this apartment and at me for falling asleep on her. But, of course we’re not listening. Do we ever?  
“Really sweetheart, is it that bad? Am I that terrible?” I ask with a smirk. She can’t hate me _that_ much.  
She’s already left the room however to continue yelling at Nik, who will hopefully hand her some coffee. Caroline follows her, most likely going to calm her down.  
Nik comes back and stands next to me, offering his hand to me. I take it and stand up.  
“You shouldn’t have done that brother.” He said in a low tone as we walk out into the living room/kitchen area.  
The girls are having a whispered argument as Bonnie pours coffee and Caroline flips pancakes.  
I had loved coffee since it had been introduced to Europe during the 16th century, before I was daggered. While I had been daggered the whole world had changed. The entire globe had gone to war more than once. Cure had been found for deadly diseases and people had travelled to places that had only existed in the imagination. Yet some things still stayed the same.  
Bonnie gave me a look as I came up behind her, warily eyeing the pot.  
“We aren’t done with our discussion.” She said through gritted teeth.  
“Oh but we are sweetheart. We are _sharing._ ” I swiped the coffee from her, filling a large tumbler all the way to the top.  
She rolls her eyes and grabs a stack of pancakes from Caroline, headed out to the balcony. I follow her, grabbing a stack as well. Caroline glares at me, probably thinking I’m “forcing myself” on Bonnie.  
Joining her on the balcony, we look over the rail at the ocean and beyond.  Feeling her eyes on me, I turn.  
“Have you ever been? Here?” She asks, staring at me with those captivating eyes. They aren’t one color, I realize. A warm choclately brown with hints of green and gold specks that light up only when she smiles. I like it when she smiles.  
“The world’s changed a lot since I went under. Miami was a small city, a port used to get to Cuba. No one knew we would get to the moon or that the entire world would go to war, not once but twice. No one knew that we would create weapons that could level whole cities. Whole cities, whole countries, that I once knew, were just _gone_ when I woke up. Erased. Forgotten _._ ” I say with thoughts  still stuck in the past.  
“For a thousand year old ass, you sure can wax on poetic.” She said with a laugh.  
“We were born during the the time when mythology was being written, sweetheart. I was a pretty good storyteller.” I decide that now is a good time as ever to try my luck. Tentatively, slowly, I put my arm around her shoulders. She doesn’t pull away. We just stand there and watch the sun rise.

 

*Bound By Blood*

Caroline POV  
I ravage my trunk, looking for my bikini. I was _so_ not going to waste a perfectly good pool. Klaus was painting. Kol had already made use of the stocked bar, obviously intending to get completely and utterly smashed before the day was out.  
Bonnie had calmed down a bit, obviously whatever Kol had said to her on the balcony having some sort of effect. We had spent the morning turning the office into a feasible work room, unpacking the grimories and setting up shop; a real command base.  Bonnie seemed hell bent on research, I however was hell bent on getting to the beach.  
I pulled out my favorite bikini; the top blue with fringe and the bottoms were tiny, held up with little white bows. I pulled my bathing suit on and covered it up with a sheer white cover-up. I grabbed a pair of matching flip flops and stuck my sunglasses on my head, running out to find Bonnie.   
Bent over a grimorie, I find her taking notes on a piece of paper.  
“Bonnie!” She jumps, turning around to glare at me playfully.  
“Care… What do you need?” She whines, though she already knows the answer.  
“I need for you to get your head out of some lame ass old book and go to the beach with me!” I giggle. I could almost see Klaus peeking his head out of the art studio behind us.  
“I don’t want to go.” She grumbled, seeing where I was going with this. She could actually _see_ Klaus reacting behind me.  
“I have a yacht.” Klaus said, coming up behind me. I whirl around trying to hide my satisfied smirk.  
“And what use is that?” I ask petulantly.  
“Well you know…” He was behind me, arms wrapped around my waist. My breath hitches, not _here,_ not in public. “Boats are very secluded.”  
“I haven’t been boating in a while, Nik. I can’t wait for you to take us.” Kol says with finality, walking to his bedroom and slamming the door behind him. Bonnie stalks after. Her displeasure over wasting a day of research is belied by the small smile flickering on her face.  
“Kol! My stuff in the room too!” She yells, banging on the door.  
“Well then come in and get it!” He yells and she opens the door, already replying.  
“Now where exactly did you put my stuf-… KOL PUT SOME CLOTHES ON. FUCK.” Apparently the Original had been changing out of _everything._    
“Is that what you want to do to me? I’d love to fulfill your request, all you have to do is ask.” He responds coyly.   
“As if… Where did you put my stuff again?”  
“The closet.”  
“Please put some clothes on?” She begs again, opening a set of doors.  
“You’ll say the opposite later sweetheart.” He promises. You can practically hear her eyes rolling. I share a grin with Klaus. This is how it starts.

*Bound By Blood*

  
“I’ve owned the Revenge since the late 60’s. She’s been docked all over the Caribbean, but she’s been in Miami for about five years.” Klaus lectured as we neared the pier. Kol rolled his eyes at his brother’s pride.  
“The Revenge? Playing pirate Nik?” Kol asked sarcastically, regarding the boat. Yacht, I correct myself. Gleaming white, a double decker, it looked as though it’s meant to be lived in. For a life on the run, this boat has probably been quite useful.  
“Shut up.” Klaus said, pushing his brother to the side and nearly causing him to fall into the water.  Kol H catches himself at the last instant and we climb aboard the boat. The open part was only one story, with a glass bottom and oak finish.  
The captain’s seat was at the helm. The steering wheel was crafted l like one of an ancient ship.  
Klaus _seemed_ to know how to drive the boat. I trust him more than Kol who was being taught the concept of engines by Bonnie.  
“Hello Captain.” I wrap my arms around his torso as he sets the ship in reverse. It’s relatively similar to driving I suppose. Same concept, different medium.  
“Caroline, I’m trying to drive. Unless you want to endanger the lives of everyone on this ship, I suggest you remove your arms.” He said quite seriously. I ignore him, beginning to place kisses down his neck. It _was_ his idea to wear a tank top, giving me much easier access to his skin.  
“OI! My brother is incompetent as is _without_ you distracting him. This boat is made of wood and could kill us!” Kol yelled from the seat at the far back. I walk over to them, sitting on the other side.  
They really are a good couple. He’s dressed similarly to Klaus in a tank top and emerald green swim trunks. Bonnie actually looked _happy_ for the first time in months, laughing as she tried to explain modern technology to the thousand year old vampire. She had some of the old Bonnie back too, her old light. She wore a simple green bikini that made the beautiful color of her skin pop. I wonder if she or Kol had tried to complement each other in their clothing choice or did it just happen naturally.  
The ocean sparkled as we sped away from the port city. To… well who knows?  
 

 


	18. Stories of the Sea

Bound By Blood

**Chapter XVIII: Stories of the Sea**

_The sea is calm tonight._

_The tide is full, the moon lies fair_

_Upon the straits; on the French coast the light_

_Gleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand,_

_Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay._

_Come to the window, sweet is the night-air!_

_Only, from the long line of spray_

_Where the sea meets the moon-blanched land,_

_Listen! you hear the grating roar_

_Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling,_

_At their return, up the high strand,_

_Begin, and cease, and then again begin,_

_With tremulous cadence slow, and bring_

_The eternal note of sadness in._

_Sophocles long ago_

_Heard it on the Ægean, and it brought_

_Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow_

_Of human misery; we_

_Find also in the sound a thought,_

_Hearing it by this distant northern sea._

_The Sea of Faith_

_Was once, too, at the full, and round earth’s shore_

_Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled._

_But now I only hear_

_Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,_

_Retreating, to the breath_

_Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear_

_And naked shingles of the world._

_Ah, love, let us be true_

_To one another! for the world, which seems_

_To lie before us like a land of dreams,_

_So various, so beautiful, so new,_

_Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,_

_Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;_

_And we are here as on a darkling plain_

_Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,_

_Where ignorant armies clash by night._

_-Matthew Arnold, Dover Beach_

**Caroline POV**

“PUT ME DOWN.” Bonnie yelled, dangling above the glistening turquoise water. Klaus had anchored the boat in a small cay, a small spot of sand surrounded by the ocean. The sun burned overhead.

“You can swim?” Kol asked, looking merely intrigued at the woman he was holding over the end.

“YES!” She screamed as he lowered her further into the water, the ends of her hair dipping beneath the surface.

“Pull her back up; she can’t give you a proper aneurysm when she’s upside down.” Klaus said, regarding his brother critically.

Kol rolled his eyes and pulled Bonnie back over the edge of the boat abruptly.

She glared daggers at him for a few seconds before pushing him off the back of the boat. He came up moments later, sputtering and coughing, with his dark hair dripping.

“What was that for?” She raised one of her eyebrows. He smirked at her, shaking his dripping hair off of his face.

Klaus jumped overboard to join his brother. It’s much deeper than it looks for it takes him a full thirty seconds to surface.

“Coming love?” He asks while treading water. In the distance I could see Kol swimming towards the beach. I walk to the edge of the boat and dove in gracefully.

The water is crystal clear and teeming with life. Coral castles rose in the distance, swarmed by a numerous amount of fish.

I broke the surface next to Klaus.

“Hello love.” He said before racing off to the beach before racing off to join Kol and Bonnie.

Naturally Klaus had alcohol waiting on the beach. The vampires in Mystic Falls had introduced daytime drinking to the populace. Now the entire town had a drinking problem.

There seems to be sort of a bar set up, stocked with every bottle of liquor imaginable. Kol and Klaus had left the water and stationed themselves around themselves around the makeshift bar, bottles in hand

Despite being a private beach I was surprised to see lounge chairs and other “beachy” things.

“Come on Bonnie.”  She looked incredulously at me from her tanning spot, clearly with no desire to get up. I huffed and grabbed a scuba mask. Did I have to do everything by myself?

I snapped it on and rolled my eyes at the people on the beach.  This is what they do on the beach? Drink and tan?

I cut through the water with a splash. I realized with pleasure that I don’t need to breathe. I’m already dead.One day I should write a book; “Perks of Being a Vampire.” The sequel could be titled “Reasons to Commit Suicide as a Vampire.”

This was definitely a perk. I could see everything in sharper detail. I was faster and stronger now. Everything was better.

A white coral pillar rose up, a bit farther from the shore. Colors swirled around, though as I came close they diminished and disappearing into hidey-holes.

I dived lower, peering into every crevice where some creature might hide. Tiny fish, no bigger than my thumb. Puffer fish, neon and spiney. Sting Rays, huge and graceful.

There were larger creatures as well. Predators.

Like the man who had somehow snuck up beside me.

Klaus drifted, wearing a mask similar to mine. Bare chested, he swam over to me and placed an arm around my waist. I’m touched by his gesture though I’m really not sure what it’s for.

Then I see the other predator.

The shark isn’t that big; no taller than I am. The shark swam forward though his intentions weren’t predatory the way I’d expected. Maybe because we smelled odd. Dead.

I turned to Klaus with wide eyes. Unlike me, he looked merely fascinated.

Maybe the vicious predator reminded him of himself. Dangerous though fiercely protective. He appeared void of emotion to some people. Sometimes you just had to look at him in a different light; the right light.

The animal came closer, sniffing Klaus and I so that the tip of its nose poked our feet.  Yet, it didn’t bite.

As it swam away I clung more closely to Klaus. His hand reached up to take off my mask, I’m surprised to note that I can still view everything clearly without burning my eyes. I take off his mask as well.

He plays with my hair, which fans out behind me like a mermaid’s. Suddenly feeling a bit daring, I grab his shoulders and smash my lips against his.

He’s stunned at first but returns the kiss with a hungry fire that makes me crave more.

When did my life turn into a movie? Every girl dreams of the perfect underwater kiss that I’m currently enjoying. The scene is beautiful; white coral in the background, the fanning of hair and a passionate mashing of lips.

You’d never know just how broken, screwed up, abandoned we’re both on the inside. We are killers. I don’t expect to survive another year even though he’s lived for a thousand. During this moment we don’t worry. We push away those damaging thoughts.

The currents whirl around us though we feel no movement. Kissing without a care in the world.

*Bound By Blood*

Klaus POV

We must have kissed for at least ten minutes. She broke the kiss with a smile and left me; swimming back towards the shore.

She was a goddess. When I had seen her in the water she had looked ethereal, beautifully inhuman.

I had always felt safe at sea. The constant shifting of waves meant I was safe from Mikael’s reach. The sea was a haven, no matter how many men likened it to hell.

Emerging onshore, I view the scene before me. My brother was lying on the sand with a very angry Bennett witch straddling his hips and screaming at him. Caroline poured herself a drink and raised her glass towards me. I walk over to the bar to avoid the wrestling, screaming children on the sand.

“What did they do now?” I asked Caroline over a glass of tequila, smirking.

“Not really sure. Then again they fight about nearly everything.” She responds as she critically as accesses the situation.

“Give it back!” the witch yells, trying to grab something in my brother’s hand. A piece of jewelry. They were covered in white sand and somehow she had pinned a thousand year old vampire to the ground.

He pushed her off gently and struggled to his feet. He held the necklace over her head as she tried to grab for it. He quickly slipped it into one of his pockets; his back pocket.

I roll my eyes at his immaturity. He had been a petulant child ever since he turned and instead of getting better over the centuries, he gotten worse.

“I HATE YOU!” She yelled at him.

“You don’t mean that sweetheart.” He said, returning to his spot at the bar. He started drinking tequila straight from the bottle. I opted for a glass though I could do the same.

The witch joined Caroline behind the bar and mixed up some elaborate alcoholic concoction. She was trying to kill Kol with only her eyes. It’s working too. My brother sinks lower into his chair fearfully.

Caroline places something in front of me. A glass.

“What’s that?” I ask, looking up.

“Margarita. You can’t just drink pure tequila. That’s only if you’re drinking to get drunk.” She said, pouring one for herself and the others. She’s wearing a dangerous expression, daring me to tell her I am drinking to get drunk.

Over the centuries it had become increasingly harder for us to get drunk. A bottle of alcohol to a human was like a bottle of water for us. Kol seemed to be putting his best effort in however despite the difficulty.

Maybe it was the rejection. He wasn’t used to it. When Caroline had first told me “no,” I thought that I had misheard. Yet, her rejection had only made her more alluring. The chase was half the fun and the victory that much sweeter.

“I’ll be back.” My brother said shortly, slamming down his drink and walking into the water.

Bonnie ran after him, diving after him into the water.

Caroline and I drank in silence.

*Bound By Blood*

**Caroline POV**

We docked late. The stars began to dot the sateen sky, the depth of the ocean seemingly endless under the dark sky.

Kol and Bonnie had bolted almost immediately the moment we landed; separately of course.

I had decided to stay and sat on the dock while Klaus tied up the boat. I swished my feet in the water and the splashing sound tickled in my ears like music.

The muscles in his back tensed and relaxed as he tied up the yacht; a task too important for anyone else to complete.  Small rivers of water streamed down his face, silver in the moonlight. His dark necklaces, wooden and beaded, hung down onto his sculpted chest.

They were intriguing. He never removed the necklaces, they must mean something to him. I wondered if they were as ancient as he was.

As he tied the last knot I got up and walked off the pier. He caught my hand in seconds and pulled me towards a moonlit stretch of sand.

*Bound By Blood*

Bonnie POV

I had dashed off the boat. Avoiding the infuriating, evil, self-absorbed, egotistical ass of a vampire. I didn’t get it.

One moment he’d be shamelessly flirting with me and staring at me like I was an angel. The next he’d be insulting me or throwing me off a boat.

In short, I didn’t know what the hell to think. Adding my own emotions to the mix, things were getting very confusing.

On the one hand I wanted to hate him. He was a vampire and an Original at that. A cocky ass who wouldn’t take no for an answer. He had a drinking problem and a major ego.

Yet he could be so… sweet.

Doing magic with Shane hadn’t felt right. I hadn’t even fully understood the feeling until I had done magic with Kol. He made me feel safe and in control, something I hadn’t felt for a long time. I had been a magical vessel for years now, only acting on the whims of the Salvatores.

Something odd had been happening since I had begun spending time with Kol. I felt like the expression was seeping out of me to be replaced by something else; something that made my heart sing and shine like the sun.

It wasn’t just the magic. Maybe it’s the way his eyes seemed to light up when I talk to him or that infuriating smirk he wears when teasing me. Or maybe it’s just when we’re together we are so much more.

Head spinning and thoughts whirling, I slammed the door behind me as I walked out of the bathroom. Of course, he has to be on the bed.

I gave him what I hope is a dangerous look and stalked into the living room to continue my previously interrupted research.

The grimorie I had been studying until I was interrupted was another one of Kol’s. I had no idea why he had so many, I mean he wasn’t a witch or a warlock. He had scribbled notes all over the margins, useful if I could actually read them.

They were in Norse as if his handwriting wasn’t bad enough. I throw it down in pure exasperation when the idiot that wrote the notes pranced into the room.

“Why do you have all these again?” I asked him as he poured himself a glass of bourbon, temporarily forgetting I was ignoring him.

He looked at me curiously as he sat down beside me, taking the book from my hands. God why did he have to sit so close? It felt domestic and the last thing I wanted to do with the Original was go there.

Kol won’t respond. He’s still staring at the page. The grimorie must have been old, the cover had rotted off. But the man’s mind was somewhere else.

“Kol? Anyone home?” I asked, rapping on his empty head. He just got up and rushed for a door. Flinging it open, he vampire sped up the hidden flight of stairs.

“Seriously?” I ask under my breath before following him.

*Bound By Blood*

**Klaus POV**

Caroline led us, meandering down the beach with our hands entwined. The waves licked our bare feet as we walked, small kisses like the ones she was so fond of in the mornings.

Every so often she would peek up at me instead of focusing on our feet and give me a shy smile. Mostly we walked in silence as I watched her and she watched our path.

“Why do you keep looking at me? It’s creepy.” She asks and I can almost hear the smile in just her voice.

“So now I’m creepy? I thought I was being romantic?” I say, mocking hurt.

“You couldn’t be romantic if you tried.” She laughs pushing me a bit.

Taking it as a personal challenge, I grab her around the waist and pull her into me. Pressing our lips together, I dip her downwards so that I’m the only thing holding her up.

The waves whoosh in, soaking her entire head of hair. She gasps and moved slightly away from the kiss. I pressed my lips more firmly against hers with a hunger I couldn’t really define.

Is it my werewolf side that has wanted to claim her, to have her and to mate with her since I first laid eyes on her? Is it my vampire side that has wanted to feed on her and drain her whilst having my own lifeforce sucked out of me?

I can’t choose so I just kiss her.

“I think I might…” I said, adding a kiss with each word. There was no going back from this. In this moment it was so perfect that I couldn’t help myself.

“Think you might what?” Caroline asked, breaking the kiss but stayed close as I continued to hold her up.

“I think I might be in love with you.”

*Bound By Blood*

**Kol POV**

I hadn’t known that grimorie had survived.

It shouldn’t have survived for a thousand years. It should have been burnt along with the rest of my human life.

I heard Bonnie coming up behind me and I turned to stare at her. She was holding that book in one hand and a blanket in the other, a confused expression on her face.

She didn’t say anything. She just sits down next to me, starting to spread out the blanket. I move a bit, and she slides it under me.

I look up at the stars. I hate them. They live for a thousand—a billion—years and live in light, the heavens. I had lived a thousand years in hell, never fully myself.

“Do you want talk about it?” She asks, staring at me with those captivating eyes.

“You really want to know the reason why I have those grimories? Really Bonnie?” She nodded her head.

“Before I turned, I had magic. Maybe I keep them to remind myself of what I lost. Maybe to torture myself!” I said as tears coming to my eyes. I was not weak.

“You were a warlock?” She asked with sudden understanding filling her eyes.

“Yes! I was a fucking warlock! When my mother turned us she screwed us up!” I yelled.

“She screwed up Nik, leaving him half of what he was. Think of what she did to me! There is no way for me to get it back, though it NEVER stops hurting!”

I was actually crying now. I wasn’t supposed to cry. Originals don’t cry.

She put a tentative arm around me, stroking a hand on my wet cheeks.

“You’re sort of lucky. All anyone does these days is use magic as a resource. Anyone that has it, they use you, exploit you, hurt you.”

“Who are they, sweetheart?”

“Anyone in Mystic Falls, the Salvatores, Elena, your brothers even used to!”

“Did they use you?” I said, tears melting, anger replacing them.

She nodded her head, tears staining her face as well. She had no idea what life was like outside of that small Virginia town. She had no idea for her power, how respected she should be. She was easily the most powerful witch in North America.

I hooked a piece of hair behind her ear and stared at those eyes. Like the stars above, they flicker.

“You deserve so much more. The power you have,” I’m whispered without even meaning to thicken my accent, “The world could be at your feet, but it isn’t. And that’s what I like about you. You still care.”

Her eyes glimmered with tears. Her hand is still on my face, caressing me. Of all people she could show tenderness, kindness, towards, Bonnie Bennett chooses me. Kol Mikaelson, ruthless Original vampire, a thousand years old. Womanizer, play boy, resident ass of the Original family.

“Thank you.” She whispers.

“Why are you thanking me? I should be thanking you.” With that, she closes the gap between us.

*Bound By Blood*

**Caroline POV**

“Get in!” I shriek, running the rest of the way into the ocean. Skinny dipping had always been a favorite pastime of mine. I swim out, until the water just barely covers my chest before turning around to look expectantly at Klaus.

He’s still wearing his shorts, I observe disappointedly, standing there like an awkward teenager.

He could be such an old prick. And I thought Elijah was bad. I giggle at the thought of the elder Original skinny dipping.

“KLAUS.” I yell, beckoning him in.

“I am not doing this love.” He called back. I pouted at him. Then I grin devilishly.

“I’m surprised at you, Klaus. I’m here alone, naked, while you’re just sitting there.” I hadn’t meant to be a tease. But, the moment I finish, the shorts are flying off and he’s running into the water.

“So about that.” He said, his hand moving down from my shoulder and onto my breast.

“We are already here…”

Within a second, I’m wrapping my legs around him, eagerly.

He was as eager as I was, readily kissing me whilst slipping in. I moan. He smirks.

He isn’t thrusting yet, merely letting us kiss as one. The waves crash against our bodies, some strong ones lifting him, and us, off our feet.

I pull away from him, high on the events of the day, high on this new life I’m leading. It’s the best I’ve felt in months, years, even. I couldn’t hold it in.

“I love you.” That’s it. I dropped the L-bomb. Am I totally and utterly screwed?

I look into his eyes, I see real… happiness? Could that be it? Yes, he actually looked happy. Klaus the killer hybrid, was actually happy for the first time in a thousand years.

*Bound By Blood*

**Bonnie POV**

I was kissing Kol. Kissing him. Actually, honestly, really kissing him.

It isn’t a kiss fuelled by lust. It is a kiss fueled by understanding, by hope. By shared hurt, shared struggles, shared memories.

I should have suspected he had something more than just an interest in magic. Had he run all those years with witches trying to make up for the part of himself he lost all those years ago?

He actually cared though. What he had said to me, for the first time since Grams had died, I had some life to me again. I had hope.

Expression had polluted me, though somehow this annoying, cocky, infuriating, adorable vampire was sucking the darkness out of me.

We sit here, locked in a struggle for who knows how long. Time becomes meaningless. We just meet again and again under a fathomless sky, the possibilities endless.

He surfaces first, still staring at me. We stand up together, never breaking contact. He’s so much taller than me, I have to actually stand a bit on my tip toes to reach my hand up to his face. I move his hair out of his eyes.

I yawn, only then realizing my true state, exhaustion. Wordlessly, he picks me up and walks through the door, down the stairs and into our room. I was too tired to protest as much as I wanted to, about the damsel in distress act or that we were sharing a room.

I close my eyes, slipping under the sheets to feel him next to me.  I snap open my eyes, showing him he hasn’t won yet with a sassy expression and a cocked eyebrow. He responds with a smirk.

Sighing, I roll over and drift away, feeling the man next to me.


	19. The Spies Came to Dinner

**The spies being introduced in this chapter are actually real people, real agents.**

**Masterman was an agent handler. He was in charge of a certain active agent, for MI5 during WWII. He was second in command of the Double Cross, an organization that ran Operation Bodyguard. Their main objective was to fool the Nazis into thinking the D-Day Invasion were coming at Pas de Calais instead of Normandy.**

**Popov was one of the agents working for Double Cross during the war. He was a Serbian Playboy and the inspiration for James Bond. He basically convinced the Germans to finance their demise.**

**Jebsen worked at the heart of Abwehr, the German intelligence agency, working for Double Cross. He was suspected of being a mole for some time, but not until the Bureau chief changed was he arrested. He was tortured, and eventually killed, never revealing the true secrets of D-Day.**

**MacKieran was the first CIA operative to be killed in the line of duty. He was stationed in China, near the Soviet Union, and was America’s first atomic spy. The armies of Chiang Kai-shek's Republic of China were defeated by those of Mao Zedong's Chinese Communist Party during the spring and summer of 1949. On July 29, 1949, Secretary of State Dean Acheson ordered the US consulate at Tihwa, Sinkiang Province, to be closed. Mackiernan was ordered to stay behind, officially to destroy consular records and equipment and covertly to continue atomic intelligence activities. Once his work was complete the CIA ordered him to get out, escaping through Tibet to India. He led a team of five men, two of whom survived, to the border where he was shot by Chinese border guards. He was posthumously awarded the Intelligence Star, the highest honor of the CIA.**

**Poshepny was also CIA, working both the Korean and Vietnamese Wars. He specialized in sabotage, training refugees. He was also awarded the Intelligence Star.**

**Hart was a CIA agent in the Middle East, eventually becoming the CIA Station Chief in Pakistan. He was known for his proactive in Afghanistan, assuring that the same thing that happened during the 444 days didn’t happen anywhere else.**

**Mendez is a familiar face to many, the central character in Ben Affleck’s Oscar-winning film Argo. He was an expert forger, and quite creative, seeing his insane EXO story in the film. But, it worked. He worked in South and Southeast Asia in the Middle East, while in later years in the Soviet Union.**

**-xoxo Katarhyne**

Bound By Blood

**Chapter XIX: The Spies Came to Dinner**

_Even if you didn’t have green eyes (in the bathtub, blue)._

_Even if you didn’t have a lovely singing voice,_

_or care for Alexandrine champagne_

_some slow Saturday evenings to sing it through,_

_it pleases me, your lips close to my ear,_

_or when you’re a big girl, and I’m a big girl too._

_Five years difference between we two._

_Sometimes it hardly matters. I’ve decided to worship you,_

_Diana, goddess of the forest—_

_or is she the one of the hunt?_

_Who cares? You remind me of her_

_too. Some woman caught me up, breathless, in her strong arms,_

_said breathe, darling. Her eyes were green-blue._

_Vague resemblances: that’s the daily news._

_Meaning: I’m willingly a fool for you_

_any hour past midnight,_

_and almost anytime in three-quarter view._

_Consider this, too: stumbling back, after a fight,_

_to someplace we could call home, you and I have been known_

_to duet a jubilee so funky it sounds like the blues._

_What steady arrows you shoot, Diana, become_

_a goddess of the hearth: you whisper_

_time to put the porchlight on,_

_and we do. Who am I talking to?_

_What is this strange glare, this prescience that you won’t be true?_

_Sometimes you say something like even so, boo,_

_and it sounds like breathe, darling. That’s why this one’s for you._

_-Jan Heller Levi, This One’s For You_

**Caroline POV**

_One week later…_

We had been happy. Klaus and I, we _had been_ perfect. The romance; candlelight dinners, walks on the beach, late night talks about… everything. This was everything I had wanted in a relationship.

The other our wild side, were having issues. Not sex issues. _That_ had been great.  
 We just couldn’t agree about food.

He hadn’t done it in front of me. We had been at one of those notorious Miami clubs. I had been on the dance floor with Bonnie and he had hung back, something about it not being “his style.” When I had went to use ladies room I saw him.

It had been some cheap blonde, drunk and most likely high. When I had seen him, I ripped him off of her and slapped him. Hard.

After that I had stormed out of the club and ran home, crying. I had locked him out of the bedroom for the whole night, and the day after, even though he sat there tryingand failing to apologize.

I had eventually accepted his apologies—not fully, but mostly. We needed to stay together. Not just that but there had been something seriously off with Bonnie and Kol.

And the spies were coming to dinner.

To say I was nervous would be an understatement. These were dangerous men. They had been dangerous even as humans. Klaus had _liked_ them for god’s sake.

“Caroline, you need to calm down,” Bonnie told me from the couch as I flew through the apartment straightening things nervously.

She looked good, sophisticated even. A glass of white wine in her hand, legs crossed, she looked at me with exasperated severity.  We both looked too formal.

She wore a gown of gold, metallic down fitting her body before billowing out in a trumpet. Matching earrings hung while her hair was pulled back into a low bun, courtesy of me.

I roll my eyes at her, and stomp over to a mirror, trying to make sure my curls were perfect.

“Seriously Care, you look amazing.” I stared at myself in the mirror. Good, but not perfect.

White was one of my best colors. I wouldn’t wear blue tonight, as much as Klaus had begged me. The gown was gorgeous, I had to say. The bodice was sewn with pearls, while the skirt dropped down from the waist in ethereal gauze. A small train stretched out from the back.

Bonnie had done my hair. It must have taken _at least_ 30 bobby pins to get it into the 20’s style curls. Waves covered my head, coming together to fall in a bun bursting with curls.

I still found flaws in the look. Did I look too innocent? Did I look fat? I turned; finding flaws everywhere I looked.

“You’re radiant.” Klaus said as he came up behind me and placing his arms on my shoulders. He’s holding something in his hands and I turn silently to look him over.

He looks good, wearing a similar tuxedo as he wore at the ball and his hair slicked back. In his hand he holds a necklace with the same set as the bracelet he gave me.

He places it on my neck and locks the clasp, his stubble tickling my neck. 

“I’m still mad at you.” I tell him, pulling away.

“I could change that.” He said seductively kissing my neck. I shouldn’t let him get away with this. I am still mad at him.

Kol interrupts us at the mirror, shoving us out of the way. Klaus growls at him, as he tries to fix his own suit.

“Brother. Please no PDA in public. We _are_ trying to make a good impression.”  He said, staring at himself in the mirror. His shirt was not tucked, not buttoned up, and bottle green bowtie was not hanging properly. In short, he was a mess.

He at least attempted to make himself look presentable. However, Bonnie, who had snuck up behind us, took matter into her own hands.

“Come here.” She said exasperatedly, grabbing him by the collar. As she buttons up his shirt, I only realize how truly domestic they look. We look.

Klaus hands him a wet comb, giving a pointed look, while Bonnie finishes with the bowtie. Kol tries to brush his hair, but Bonnie quickly intervenes, racking the comb through his dark hair.

Klaus cleans up nice. I’d seen him in a variety of different looks, though somehow the tuxedo was my favorite. I fix his navy bowtie one last time before the doorbell rings.

We all look up.

Showtime.

*Bound By Blood*

They didn’t look dangerous.

Then again, neither did Klaus, or any of the Originals for that matter.

Klaus greeted each of the men in German nostalgically and shows them inside. The trio was odd looking. A severe looking gentleman, an almost nervous looking man with old fashioned spectacles, and a man with a lax demeanor I could almost instantly peg as a playboy.

“Gentlemen,” Klaus said, showing the three inside, “This is my brother, Kol, and the girl in the green is our witch, Bonnie Bennett.” He said.

“It’s a pleasure to meet such a well-known and powerful witch.” The playboy said kissing Bonnie’s hand. She blushed while Kol looks murderously at the suave man.

“And this is Caroline, a fellow vampire and a… friend.” Klaus introduced me, choosing his words carefully. The same man that kissed Bonnie’s hand kissed mine, earning similar death glares from the hybrid.

“Enchanté Mademoiselle.” He said in a German accent, lips still on my hand. I giggled.

“Aren’t supposed to be more of you?” Klaus said harshly to the gentleman.

“The rest are still bringing in equipment.” The man said in a British accent. They quickly walked inside followed by the other two. Walking inside, quickly followed by the other two.

“Where are my manners?” Klaus said, back to his charming self. “This is John Masterman, ex- MI5 case officer,” he gestured to the gentleman, “Johnny Jebsen, an old friend and fellow Double Cross spy,” he placed his arm around the nervous man, “And Dusko Popov, playboy and Double Cross swindler extraordinaire.” He said of the play boy, smiling at him.

“Who else did you bring?” Kol asked, walking into the living room, “I’ve read your history.”

“Where were you all this time then?” Jebsen countered.

“I was indisposed for some time, a century. Apparently I missed a couple wars.” Kol said, giving his brother a glare. Klaus merely shrugged in return.

“We brought a couple of people. Ex-CIA, mostly.” Masterman said seriously as Kol begins to pour drinks.

“So what do we have?” Klaus asked.

“What are you looking for?” Popov said leaning back, “We have total control over most of the world’s information.”

Klaus gave him a glare very similar to the one he seems so fond of giving Kol.

“Supernatural information. Ever heard of Silas?”

“Heard of him? He’s supposed to stay dead.” Masterman said, almost alarmed.

“I told you so,” Kol sings from his shared couch with Bonnie.

“Well as much as you told us so, Kol, that’s not going to fix this.” Klaus told him, irritated. I placed my hand over his to try and calm him.

“Anyway so now Silas has risen and an enemy has The Cure. The vampire doppelganger.” Klaus says.

“The one we helped you track down?” Masterman asks. I shot him a look.

“There are actually two now. The human one was turned. Alas, I did manage to break the curse.”

“Congratulations.” Jebsen said cordially. 

“Anyway, Katarina would like to see nothing better than The Cure shoved down my throat, though she’s been evading me for centuries. You need to find her.”

“I need a photo. And Johnny, get the rest up here. NOW.” Masterman yelled formally, clearly the leader.

“Kol, call Elijah. He must have at least one photograph of his whore. Bonnie, check with the Salvatores.” Klaus ordered.

The appointed people rushed off to their selected tasks, while Klaus lounged back placing his arm around me.

“Where’s your live blood, Klaus? You always keep some around.” Popov asks and I glowered at him. Klaus had his head down, giving me his signature puppy dog eyes, saying “I’m sorry,” over and over again.

“What is this? Klaus?” he said, before bursting out laughing. The Brit follows a couple of seconds later, catching on. Klaus just glared at them, though they don’t stop. They, oddly enough, don’t fear him. Then again he looks about as scary as a bunny when he’s trying to appease me.

“’Lijah’s going to fax all of them over, Nik,” Kol called from the other room.

“How many does he have?” Klaus asked irritably.

“Well how many do you have of Caroline?” he retorted, walking back into the room and onto the couch. Bonnie was almost semi-consciously trails after him.

“None,” Klaus smirked.

“Really? Then how many sketchbooks have you filled up, and how many paintings?” Kol pressed on, Klaus blushed and looks how at our entwined hands. He looked murderous, an old look of his, though doesn’t say anything. Is he embarrassed?

Before anyone could say another word, a whole cadre of men barged in, chattering to the sound of clanking equipment.

Here comes the cavalry.

*Bound By Blood*

**Bonnie POV**

I wanted to curl into a ball and die. I was surrounded by vampires, most of whom had been extremely dangerous humans. By logic, they had only gotten worse since they turned.

The awkwardness between Kol and I had not diminished. It had gotten worse.

The kiss on the roof had been… indescribable. Amazing, wrong, passionate, immoral are all words I could use to describe it.

It hadn’t helped that _we_ had went to bed after. Or that he had carried me.

He had surprised me. I was surprised at his emotions, his anger, and his pain. I was surprised he had gone this long without breaking down to someone else. I was surprised he’s lived this long a fraction of who he was.

Klaus had lived like that, a fraction of himself, for a thousand years. His torment was over. But, Kol had a thousand, a million more, left of being lock against himself.

When Abby turned, she said she felt cut off, blocked, from something that had always been a part of her.

But he dealt with it so well. Most of the time I wouldn’t even guess there was anything wrong with him. However, at night it was a different story.

The night after that kiss, he had fallen asleep on a chaise in room, while I was on the bed. A couple of hours later, he started screaming. He was begging to someone in his sleep, trying to chant some spell I didn’t recognize, but of course it failed.

These were not ordinary night terrors. I doubted his siblings knew about them. Hell, they probably didn’t even know he _had_ those abilities once. Warlocks were uncommon, rare even. And when they did exist, they were powerful.

I couldn’t stand to hear his pain. I got up and knelt next to him, shaking him. The moment my hand had touched him he had stopped chanting, stopped fighting, only to leave some slight, sporadic whimpers.

Experimenting, I removed my hand from his arm, and stepped back. Seconds later, he back to tossing and turning, fighting for his life against some invisible foe.

Groaning, I placed my hand on his shoulder again, letting him quiet down. Only then did I realize he was soaked, in sweat, and blood? He must have coughed some up in his struggle for it was splattered all down his shirt.

He was a disaster. A broken mess that I couldn’t abandon. He was really just a child, a little boy who never got to grow up and a boy who needed to be fixed.

I tried and pushed him up to a sitting position on the chaise, wrapping my arms around him. He was heavy and a lot bigger than me at over six feet. Still, I manage to pull the sweaty vampire up.

“Kol, Kol, Kol.” I repeated over and over again trying to shake him awake. After probably the twelfth time, his eyes pop open, clouded over and delirious.  

“Where? What?” he mumbled, and I realized he wasn’t really here. Not yet anyway. Since he was not capable of some independent movement, I dragged him up into the bathroom.

_I can’t believe I’m doing this_ , I thought to myself as I led him into the shower, turning it on full blast, ice cold.

We gasped in unison, and clarity finally returned to his eyes.

“Bonnie?” He asked, staring down at me.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked bluntly.

“Tell you what? And why am I wet?” His hair dripped over his face and coffee eyes.

“You were tryingto do magic. _In your sleep_. And you were screaming.” I explained. He immediately looked frustrated.

“Not again, dammit,” he muttered to himself. I reached to turn off the spray above us.

“What was it? Why were you trying to do magic?” I asked, following him out of the shower. He was almost angry, in a lost sort of way, mumbling to himself as he’s strips off, throwing the soaked clothes everywhere. “KOL, answer me!” I yelled when he was unresponsive from the depths of the closet. I walked into his side of the closet, grabbing one of the shirts neatly piled on one side as I walked past.

He stared at a mirror. A full length one, glaring at himself with such contempt I’m surprised the man in the reflection doesn’t evaporate. With a roar, he punches it. It shattered, glass flying everywhere.

His head is in his hands, small sobs racked his body.

“Kol?” I asked, walking up behind him. “Seriously, what the fuck is going on?”

He wasn’t in control of himself. I saw him trying to pull himself together, but each time he failed. His breath came out in short gasps, near hysteria.

“Go. Away.” He got out, his face screwed up trying to keep tears at bay. I ignored him, wrapping my arms around him.

“No.” I told him, rocking him gently back and forth. He’s running out of tears now, snatching the shirt from me and throwing it over his head. I’m still soaked, though I barely notice it.

His moment of weakness was over. He stomped back into the bedroom and threw himself on the bed defiantly. I quickly marched after him, not before throwing on some dry clothes.

“Are you going to tell me what the hell that was?” I asked him, angry at him for ignoring me, and for shutting me out. I lied down on the bed, facing him when he doesn’t respond forcing him look at me.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” He said fiercely, almost as though he wants to prove himself.

“Liar. The only reason you’re still tormented by demons is because you’ve never let them out. Allow some weakness, Kol, for god’s sake.”

He gently put his hand on my bare arm cautiously, almost scared of me. I felt a slight surge of energy, not witch magic, but that light vampire touch of meeting of minds.

However, this wasn’t controlling, demanding, violent. He merely let the connection flow between us.

“My father had to murder us for us to turn.” He wasn’t messing with my head. This connection wasn’t like that _._ It was emotional, riding the thousand year vampire train wreck.

“It was the middle of the night; a few after Hendrik’s … passing.” Waves of sadness, regret, heart ache.

“When I woke up, Finn was already dead, stabbed in his sleep. My father was looming over Elijah, who had just been gaining consciousness, only for Father to plunge the sword into his heart.”

“We… we tried to run. But, Fat-” he was somewhere else now, I was with him. The scene faded, like an old photograph, while in reality it was an ancient memory.

The scene was right out of a horror movie. Two corpses with gaping holes in their chests sprawl on beds, while a man without sanity stalked the trio of children in the corner, if you could call them that.

A man with curly hair attempted to shield the younger blonde, Rebekah, who is near hysterical. The darker haired man, Kol, attempted to chant, breath coming out in gasps, only to be foiled each time by the other woman in the room, her eyes hard.

Mikael stabs Klaus directly through, the sword coming all the way up to the hilt as it goes through not only Klaus’s chest, but Rebekah’s chest as well. They fell dead, to the cry of the remaining brother.

“Please. No. Father, please. No. Mother, please help me!” He pleads as his parents stalked closer towards him, intermixed with chants.

Mikael takes the first swipe at Kol, but he ducks to avoid the deadly blow, only cutting his chest.  He ran, trying to get to the door and hopefully away, yet the older man was faster, taking another stab and lacerating his leg. Kol falls, still pleading and chanting spells.

“Ester, hold the boy down.” Mikael said gruffly to his wife and she obeyed, muttering an incantation. Kol rises, instantly immobilize, but his chanting doesn’t cease.

“I can’t hold him off much longer. Quickly Mikael.” The Original witch told her husband, though he doesn’t listen.

“Well, boy. This should teach you to be stronger than _me._ ” He snarled, before plunging the sword down straight into Kol’s heart.

The memory was dark after that. We resurfaced, to Kol’s soft crying. I can’t really process what I had just experienced. I wasn’t really operating on any other motive when I wrapped my arms around the boy, letting him cry into my shirt.

This was empathy, not pity I felt. He lost more than his humanity that night, he lost his whole life.

All I did was comfort him, hoping he could for once since he turned, allow himself to be weak.

*Bound By Blood*

**Klaus POV**

The men made me anxious. But not for myself, but for Caroline.

She was a liability, a weakness I had allowed myself.

These men, though they were loyal, were still dangerous.

My old friends hadn’t changed much over the decades.

Dusan still had an affinity for trench coats, cigars, and beautiful woman.

John had possibly gotten stodgier, echoing Elijah in that regard.  He glared disapprovingly at the younger men horsing around; probably thinking a bit of fun could ruin their lives.

Johann was the most different however. He had been the first to turn, in a Gestapo prison, no less. He had always been a nervous man. But who wouldn’t be? As a spy in the heart of the enemy, he smoked almost constantly and drank to keep pace.

 The other five men were younger; Cold War era most likely.

“Klaus, this is the rest of our team.” John said.

“Douglas MacKieran, Espionage, China. Anthony Poshepny, Sabotage, Korea. Howard Hart, Paramilitary, Middle East. Tony Mendez, Quartermaster and EXO.” He said, introducing the other men.

“No Eastern bloc agents?” I asked, surprised. I had killed enough Soviet agents in my time. I had compelled quite a few too. Playing games with the world had been one of my less… honorable pastimes.

“I did some missions over there. Hard place to stay alive, especially if you had a fucking CIA badge.” said Mendez. He was by far the youngest, though he had an easy confidence about him not shared by some of the older men. The older ones looked like those red-faced bulldogs, morons who the government put in charge of the military. They didn’t say much, though they had an aura of command about them that wasn’t shared by those who were more at ease.

“Nik, Elijah started to fax over the pictures.” Kol called from the study, as Bonnie came out with the first three. They were head shots, two a bit blurry, both recent, probably a couple of months ago due to the modern clothing. The shots were in some metropolitan center, the people around her even more blurred. I could make out one face in the mix however.

“Haley.” Caroline breathed next to me, rage filling her stunning features. I examine the photo, trying to look for any identifier on the pair. Finding none, I throw it down on the coffee table to be picked up by Masterman. He looks curtly at his team, his look authoritative, and they scurry off, opening laptops, setting up equipment, unpacking.

“Popov, get MI6 on the phone. Jebsen, MI5. Hart, CIA. Mendez, get the prints for the wolf. Poshepny, I want to see everything we have on the Doppelganger, fake ID’s, any movement in the last 5 years. MacKieran, call the controllers in the major countries.”

He’s authoritative, I’ll give him that. Yet, he’s still stuck in the 40’s. 3 piece suit, Venezuelan cigar perched in his mouth, and drinking the same scotch we had all drank at Bletchley Park.

The living room and joined dining room had been turned into an office almost in the blink of an eye. My brother stands in the middle of it, of course, fascinated by modern technology. I always wondered if maybe I shouldn’t have daggered him, he hadalways been the fine brother. The 40’s were made for us.

“Don’t touch that!” One of the bulldogs yells at Kol, who had just pressed two buttons on a monitor.

“Well what _can_ I do?” Kol whined. I smirked, downing the rest of my bourbon and getting up, to call my other dear brother.

*Bound By Blood*

**Kol POV**

“Don’t break anything!” another one of the big beefy men shouted at me, like I was a naughty child. Honestly, I’m a thousand years old, worthy of such respect that kings and emperors kissed my feet. Only to be treated as a nuisance.

Back to human times. At least Klaus wasn’t allowed to help either. He just sat and drank, talking with the smoking leader.

Bored, I look for my favorite distraction, Bonnie. She wasn’t here, however. _Really? Why was I even here again?_

I sit unceremoniously next to my brother, grabbing the entire bottle of bourbon from him, raising it to my lips. He gave me a look.  I rolled my eyes in return.

I was not in the best shape. This week had been a rollercoaster. Every time I saw the feisty little witch, I tensed up, almost scared of her.

There were two sides to Bonnie Bennett. One hand, she was the powerful witch, taking shit from nobody, powerful, strong, defiant. On the other, she was a kind sorceress, light trailing after her wherever she went.

Those personas constantly clashed, at war with each other. Her beliefs versus her heart, her friends versus her humanity.

After the night where I told her about my nightmares, she didn’t allow me to sleep alone. I might fall asleep on the couch, with a bottle in my hand, and the next morning find the tiny witch under my arms, curled into my chest.

She might already be asleep, in bed, and I, on a chair, and by morning I would have magically maneuvered into the bed, next to her.

I gave up after the second night, joining her in the comforts of sleep, no longer a hell. We wordlessly did it, agreed to it. The connection between the two of us however, was unfathomable. Even if I pushed her out, locked the door, shut off my humanity, she pushed through. It was annoying, though strangely comforting, peaceful in fact.

The most powerful connection we shared was at the nightclub.

Caroline had begged us to go. Nik of course had refused at first, but the perky blonde was more than a match for my brother. He had blown up at her about safety precautions and how Katherine was still out there, with a way to destroy him _._ However, she had held her ground, exploding right back at him with just as much force.

They had quickly taken their argument into the bedroom with loud shouts, slamming of doors, and once the shattering of glass, though that might have been Caroline’s form of persuasion.

I of course could hear everything, though expertly tuning it out once it got a bit too… pornographic for my taste. An hour after they had gone in, Caroline emerged with sex head announcing we were going out, hiding a grin.

I had enjoyed nightclubs at the turn of the century. The country was changing; skirts going shorter, dances getting faster, life had struck the youth of America. And New Orleans had been the heart of the movement.

New Orleans had been the Las Vegas of its day. The gambling, the new-fangled gadgets, the attitude of whatever goes. Blood was easy, and girls were fun.

This century’s clubs were the same. Taking away the change in clothes and music, it could have been identical to some of my old favorites in New York, London, Paris, New Orleans.

Nik was not out of place, unlike I was. Disgruntled as he might have been about going, his sour look faced changed at the sight of Miss Forbes in an extremely low cut dress, leaving little to the imagination. _My_ imagination was fixated on Bonnie however.

She was stunningly dangerous, the magic in her eyes; or maybe that was just the color, sparked those mesmerizing gold flecks to life. The cut of the dress didn’t help the focus on her eyes, however. I was utterly torn about where to look, eventually deciding to go the usual male instinct of… boobs.

“Kol… My eyes are up here!” She tells me, jerking my head in an upward direction.

“But the entertainment is down there.” She slapped me for that. I deserved it.

The club was on a roof at the top of a rather high building. Of course Nik compelled the bouncer to let us up seeing as my brother and I didn’t have and ID and the girls were underage.

It was loud, worse by vampire hearing. Lights flashed, illuminating a loaded bar.

 Nik and Caroline disappeared almost instantly, her pulling out into the throng of dancing bodies. I looked at Bonnie, speculatively. She glared at me, a look she’s awfully fond on.

“No, Kol. Not in a thousand years.”

“Well, I _have_ lived that long, so…”

“Shut up! I need a drink.” She grabbed me by the arm, and pulled me to the bar. I got the feeling she wanted to grab me by the ear, but this wasa public place, thankfully.

The bar was full, though through the joy of compelling I procured us a pair of seats in the center, surrounded by the drunken humans.

“Are you going to buy me a drink or not? I thought you Originals had impeccable manners.” She said, shrugging off her jacket and putting it on the back of her chair. I ordered an entire bottle of tequila, my personal poison, with two glasses.

“I believe you’re thinking of Elijah. Don’t let the accent fool you, darling. I am as far away from gentlemanly as you can get.” She smirked at me over her drink, obviously a lightweight. _I_ however…

She was barely half way done with her first glass when I’m finishing the bottle and demanding another.

She raised her eyebrows at me, as the bartender slammed down another. I smirked at her, the slight buzz of alcohol finally hitting me.

I glanced up from my “serious drinking” to find the witch staring at me. Again. Her eyebrows slightly scrunched together, creasing her smooth brows, with the straw of her drink bitten and just held between her pink lips. Her face was unguarded, her emotions on clear display. There was some sort of pity, kindness in her lovely features and a bit of… love? _No, it’s probably just more fucking pity._

“See something you like Miss Bennett?” I challenged her. She snapped out of her concentration.

“Um… No….” She replied, almost unsure of herself.

“Really? I could… change that,” I whispered seductively, ducking my head towards her. She takes in a sharp breath, almost leaning into me.

The tension between us had just been building and, at least for me, was starting to get unbearable. She hadto give in sometime.

She was studying me, or to be more specific, my lips, considering something. I held in a breath, hoping she was going to do what I thought she was contemplating.

“Fuck it.” She muttered before smashing her lips against mine.

Her lips tasted like tequila, lip gloss, and mint. Her hands racked through my hair, kissing me harder.

It took me a second to come out of my delighted shock before I could respond. I attacked her lips with equal fire, a kiss fueled by passion.

Were we kissing because we were drunk? Or were we just letting out that tension?

I didn’t care. I slid my tongue into her mouth, hers meeting mine halfway.  I brought by hands to her hair, playing with it as we kissed.

She was hot and cold. A minute after this she could be scolding me again, yelling at me, or slapping me. She was fiery, powerful, beautiful, kind, and brilliant.

I think I might love this little witch.

 


	20. Control

**Since I am such a history nerd, there are some historical references.**

**Anthony Blunt was part of the Cambridge Five, a group of MI6/MI5 agents who were secretly working for the Soviets during the Cold War.**

**Otto Skorzeny was one of the few major Nazi generals to survive the war, hiding out in Spain running a secret organization funded by Nazi funds to help other Nazi Party members escape Europe. He would work against the Western powers until his death in the 1970’s.**

**Basil Zaharoff was an illegal arms dealer, known for his corrupt business tactics, from the Ottoman Empire. He would trade munitions until his death in 1936, known for his spread of the deadly machine gun to both sides of the conflict known as the First World War. He would see many of the extremely destructive devices of World War I to the Allies however.**

**Elizabeth Bathory was the most prominent historical female serial killers.  Known as the Blood Countess, the number of murders she committed was unknown, though the widely accepted number is 650. She was known for torturing then murdering young girls.  Living during the late 16 th and early 17th century, she was never tried, but sentenced to a life in prison in Hungary.**

**-xoxo Katarhyne**

Bound By Blood

**Chapter XX: Control**

_What's wrong with you, with us,_

_what's happening to us?_

_Ah our love is a harsh cord_

_that binds us wounding us_

_and if we want_

_to leave our wound,_

_to separate,_

_it makes a new knot for us and condemns us_

_to drain our blood and burn together._

_What's wrong with you? I look at you_

_and I find nothing in you but two eyes_

_like all eyes, a mouth_

_lost among a thousand mouths that I have kissed, more beautiful,_

_a body just like those that have slipped_

_beneath my body without leaving any memory._

_And how empty you went through the world_

_like a wheat-colored jar_

_without air, without sound, without substance!_

_I vainly sought in you_

_depth for my arms_

_that dig, without cease, beneath the earth:_

_beneath your skin, beneath your eyes,_

_nothing,_

_beneath your double breast scarcely_

_raised_

_a current of crystalline order_

_that does not know why it flows singing._

_Why, why, why,_

_my love, why?_

_-Love, Pablo Neruda_

**Caroline POV**

Vomiting was delightful. I couldn’t explain it, but at five in the morning, I was puking all the blood I had ever drunk.

Wonderful.

Scarlet blood projected out of my mouth, splattering all over the porcelain bowl.

“Shit.” I muttered trying to reach for a towel on the rack above my head. Of course another round shoots out of my mouth as I grip the towel, pulling the whole rack down on my head.

It didn’t even hurt. At least, not really. My vision goes blurry as someone knocked on the door yelling my name.

“Caroline! Caroline! Answer me this instant!” Klaus yelled from the opposite side of the door. I couldn’t move nor had any intention of doing so.

He must have broken the lock. Klaus sped into the room and took one look at me, his eyes wild with fear.

I was covered in blood. The whole fucking bathroom was. I could feel my drenched sticky hair adhere itself to my back as I tried to sit up.

“What happened love?” he asked, sitting behind me helping me sit up.

“I have no idea.” I laughed, nearly crying. What was wrong with me? My stomach turned again on itself, and I sat up quickly leaning forward towards the toilet. More blood.

I slump back against him. He looks bewildered, stunned. He couldn’t explain what’s going on any more than I could. I started to softly cry against his chest, still covered in blood.

I kept doing this with him gently stroking my hair. Why was this happening? I mean, Elena had only started vomiting blood because of the creepy sire bond. I had been a vampire for over a year now. I wasn’t sired to anyone…

It was sporadic, coming at the most unexpected times, yet it didn’t stop. My head spun. Why did I have to lose so much blood?

My eyes kept focusing, due to the loss of blood. I need to feed. Now.

Klaus’s hand was near my mouth. I grasped his wrist and brought it to my lips, biting into it.

His blood saves me. Every single time I’m in pain, I’m hurt, I’m broken, I’m weak, he saves me.

*Bound By Blood*

**Klaus POV**

Caroline scared me. She was drinking from me, which told me she wasn’t dying. But, she had lost so much blood.

This shouldn’t happen. When I had opened the door to the bathroom, after hearing the crash, I hadn’t expected this.

She laid in my arms, drenched in blood and surprisingly, not sweat. She wasn’t sick. There wasn’t venom in her system causing this. It must be something else.

My blood seemed to be bringing her back. Clarity returned to her eyes, confusion replacing it.

“What is wrong with me?” She whispered, crying again. I couldn’t tell her. I didn’t know. But she couldn’t know that. She was too much of a mess, too dependent on _me_ , for me to not know the answers.

“We’ll figure it out, love.” I told her confidently, gently brushing a few wisps of hair off of her face.

She starts to get up, her crying moment over. She’s so strong. One minute she’s crying ,but she doesn’t let it stop her.

“Well, I am disgusting.” She said, looking down at her bloodied self, then regarding the toilet area. It looks like she murdered someone.

“I’m taking a bath.” She announces, then with a coquettish smile says, “Care to join me?”

Though it’s five in the morning, I want to. Not for sexual reasons…. mostly, but because she probably wanted some sort of comfort.

She didn’t wait for my answer, walking into the bath section of the room, stripping off the scarlet soaked nightgown as she went, throwing it in the sink.

It’s funny in a way. A month ago I would have jumped right onto that, now though she is stunning, I don’t make any big deal of it. I had seen it so many times over the past three weeks; it had become static in my routine. A pleasant edition, indeed.

She bent over turning on the silver taps, giving me an excellent view from where my spot on the ground. Shit. I adjusted my pants. None of that. Not now.

I am in a right predicament. I am the most powerful- ok second most powerful- being on the planet. I had enemies on every continent, in every age, in every nook and cranny of the globe. And I could picture all of them laughing at the Supernatural King finally finding a Queen.

I wasn’t embarrassed of her. I was embarrassed of myself. Of my weakness. But, I couldn’t help it. She was mine. She was my salvation, redemption. I _had_ to protect her, for fear of losing myself.

 She stripped off her undergarments, and settled into the tub. Those things were infuriating. White lace scraps that were just so easy to tear, though she would get _so_ upset it there was even the slightest rip.

“Coming?” She called from the water. I briefly considered the option of going back to bed, but her eyes. She needed me. I threw my blood soaked boxers into the sink on top of her nightdress and climb into the water behind her.

She sighs, relaxing against my chest.

“This is nice.” She said, burying her face into my chest. I moved my hand around her stomach, holding her against me. Her legs tangled with mine, though I couldn’t see them below a thin layer of bubbles. What was with females and bubble baths?

“Caroline, do you have any idea what made you try and make yourself a fountain of blood?” I asked, moving my hand over her stomach while the other brushes her hair. “Because I have absolutely no fucking idea.”

“I didn’t have any venom if that’s what you’re asking. I just don’t know… Maybe Bonnie or Kol might have something in one of their grimories. Just for now…” She ranted, before I cut her off with my lips.

She turned around in the water, never letting my lips leave her skin, gliding over the white expanse. As she moved, I planted kisses in a curve, trailing up from her back to meet her slightly chapped lips once she was facing me.

I’m not going for sex here. She didn’t need that right now. She was confused mess who needed to be comforted, protected. And I am her protector.

She brings her wet hand up to my hair, soaking it. I remove my lips even so slightly to stare into those eyes.

The blue irises are scared, worried, and fearful. She shouldn’t feel this way. My heart roared for vengeance, sulking to know I can’t keep her out of harm’s way.

I know I love her. I think she loves me. I love her.

*Bound By Blood*

**Caroline POV**

I fell asleep in the bath. I felt like I was a little kid again, probably because, as if by magic, I ended up back in my bed. My empty bed.

I could hear our typical morning sounds. Kol and Bonnie were having their usual argument over coffee or breakfast or Kol making some idiotic comment. Brush strokes on a canvas, Klaus painting. The sound of waves lapping against the beach. And… A heartbeat?

Ok, this was weird. I could hear it, ever so faintly, a heartbeat. It was slow, fluttering, like a vampire’s, but it was _in the room._

But, there was nobody here.

It **must** be one of the other vampires, Klaus’s friends.

I got up, somehow dressed in another one of my nightgowns, blue this time, and tip toed out into the hall where I could the clink of pots and pans, the merry laughter of Kol, the cutting remark of Klaus, echo from the kitchen.

Entering, I found the scene familial. Bonnie cooking breakfast, laughing at the pair of brothers, she smiled at Kol shyly, avoiding his eyes. They have a kind of shy, wary connection that both of them didn’t really know how to deal with.

It’s adorable.

Klaus stared at me, worry still etched in his face, creating a fold between his brows. I smiled at him and his worry disappeared though mine only increased, staring around the room.

We’re the only ones here.

5 heartbeats, 4 people.

Bonnie’s is human, of course, steady paced and fluttered each time she met the eyes of the youngest male Original.

Kol’s is slow, much slower than a normal vampire.

Klaus’s is slow and sporadic. Sometimes skipping so many beats I wonder if his heart stops. It did when he first saw me in the bathroom drenched in blood.

My own is quite normal, I guess for a baby vamp. It’s slow, but not as sluggish as the Originals.

The fifth is odd. It’s almost like Klaus’s except… faster. It’s sporadic but about as fast as mine.

I frowned considering something. But it was imposs…

My thought was interrupted by Bonnie cheery good morning hug, nearly knocking me over.

“Seriously Bon? If you’re trying to kill me you might as well stake me rather than tackle me.”

“She’s already threatened to stake me three times this morning. Trust me Caroline, she never follows through with anything.” Kol said, smirking.

“I’ll stake you if you don’t shut up Kol.” Bonnie glared at him, pulling out of our hug.

“You couldn’t even stake me even if you tried sweetheart.” He taunted her.

“It’s actually quite easy. An aneurysm and then a bit of rope is all I need. I mean that’s sort of how Elena staked you.” She said sassily, cocking her head to the side.

“Well with that rope we could do various things.” He said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively at her. She punched him in the arm.

“Ugh. I swear I’m going to end up without an arm!” He whined, rubbing his arm, though it hadn’t hurt. He _was_ a vampire for God’s sake.

“Would you like something to drink, love?” Klaus mumbled to me, clearly insinuating blood rather than any… human beverage.  I looked at him questioningly, wondering if I was going to keep it down. He nodded his head ever so slightly; I could almost hear him saying those words he had told me so long ago.

“Take a chance, Caroline.”

I walked to the fridge and take out a blood bag. B positive. Of course, my favorite. Klaus had kept almost only that stocked in the house the first few days we were here, knowing I loved it, until Kol decided to have a binge one night and drank all of them. It had been quite an interesting fight between the brothers however. I didn’t know Vikings hair pulled.

I brought the bag tentatively to my lips and took a deep breath. What was the worst that could happen? I took a sip. I met his eyes, both of holding our breaths. Nothing happened. I exhale a sigh of relief and drained the rest of the bag.

I felt better, even though I kept unconsciously concentrating on the incessant beating. It was going to drive me insane.

The faint sound of arguing accompanied the ding of elevator doors, probably those spies coming hopefully with good news.

“You’re in luck Klaus.” Popov announced, walking into the kitchen with a sheaf of papers in his hands and a triumphant look on his face.

“She’s not been careful about secure lines, so we know everyone she’s called in the past couple of months. Granted, some of these were payphones, but she has a distinct movement trail.”

“Where is she currently?” Klaus asked, taking the paper from the playboy and flipping through them quickly. One of the more recent pages falls to the floor and I picked it up.

It was from about a month ago and right in the middle of the page was Tyler’s number. Tyler. Why the hell had he been in contact with the doppel-bitch even when we were together?

“This is Tyler’s number.” I said numbly, interrupting the men.

“Who?” Popov asked, confused. Klaus gave him a look.

“The last of my hybrids.” He answered for me.

“And my ex….” I finished, still numb. Why the hell was he in contact with her?

“Really? So how did you end up with Klaus?” he asked, eyes alight with interest.

“Well… That’s complicated. She rejected him a bunch though. It was fun to watch.” Kol said, interrupting our conversation.

“Klaus? You got rejected?” The playboy laughed at Klaus as he looked down at his shoes, turning slightly red.

“You would be wise to shut your trap, Dusan.” He says dangerously.

The man didn’t look scared. Maybe because he knew Klaus wouldn’t do anything. He served a purpose, or maybe the man was just cocky.

The nervous looking one, Jebsen, poked his head into the room.

“She’s calling someone.” He announced. Klaus and the other spy vamp-sped into the other room, the rest of us following close behind at normal speed.

They are bent over a monitor when we walk into the room, where Mendez, the youngest, has a pair of headphones placed on one ear.

“Who is she calling?” Klaus whispered to Masterman who’s bent down next to him, examining the screen.

“A Miami number.” He says shortly, tapping the screen. Mendez  typed something into the computer and a red light came onto the screen next to the word “recording.”

He tapped a couple more keys and the voices projected into the room.

“Are you sure Klaus is there?” the bitchy voice of Katherine echoes through the room.

“I saw him getting onto his boat. You told me to watch him so I did.” A male voice told her.

“Is he with anyone? My sources say that there are people missing in Mystic Falls.” Who are her sources? Tyler? But, he’s gone….

“Another guy, they kind of look alike, brothers maybe. And two chicks. A really pretty blonde and some African-American beauty. The blonde was kissing Klaus and the chick and the other guy had some sort of thing.”

“Was it Elijah?” she asked, her voice almost… hopeful. It seemed the bitch still had feelings for the most formal of the Originals.

“No, Klaus was yelling something with a K…”

“Kol?” She asked; fear creeping into her voice, “He’s supposed to be dead.”

“Well that’s what he said. Maybe your sources are wrong.”

“Tyler said he saw the body.”

Tyler had been working for Katherine? The same bitch that turned me, who offered us up as sacrifices to Klaus. I felt like vomiting all over again.

 “I don’t know Katherine, I’m just telling you what I saw. Is there anything else you need me to do?” the man said surly.

“Follow them if they go out again, Will. Get Tyler or Hayley down to Miami with you; maybe have Tyler pull Caroline away from Klaus. I want him to lose **everything.** ” She said vehemently. Breakfast comes back up. I vamp sped into our bathroom, barely making it to the toilet. I could hear Klaus in the living room giving orders, probably to trace Katherine or this Will.

I finished my sickness, wiping my mouth. I had to figure this out, without Klaus breathing down my neck.

I go into the closet and grabbed a pink lace skirt, a sleeveless oxford, and a pair of gold gladiator sandals. I wiped some make up on, light and fun and then added the bracelet before walking out.

I returned to the living room and immediately met Bonnie’s eyes. “What the hell is going on?” she asked me with a concerned expression. I merely shrugged in response, not knowing myself.

“I’m going shopping.” I announced. Everyone turned and stared at me, knowing that there was someone following us.

“What do you mean love?” Klaus asked, knowing something is off with me. There is. I needed to find out what was wrong with me.

“Just as I said, I’m going shopping. I’m obviously no use here, except I could always bait out this guy. And since I can’t keep down blood bags, I need to drink from someone…” I feel like a major bitch. But, the one thing I’m apparently good at is bait, so why shouldn’t I just go with it.

I walked out, grabbing my purse, car keys, and Klaus’s credit card from the hall table, and called behind me.

“Coming Bonnie?”

She met my eyes, knowing my look. It’s the “I’ll-tell-you-later-if-you-play-along” look.

“Sure why not?” she answered, getting up from her place and walking out the door behind me.

I slammed it shut and listened for a moment.

“Wow. She’s got you whipped.” I heard the playboy say, accompanied by the laughter of the others and the tell-tale sound of Klaus smacking him.

*Bound By Blood*

**Klaus POV**

Though there was something seriously off about Caroline, I couldn’t afford to think of that, at least not right now. Katherine had someone watching our every move. How could I have been so careless? I hadn’t even realized it.

I could remedy this at least.

“I want to track this man’s phone.” I crisply told the man at the computer, who immediately started typing. “And one on Katarina.”

“Kol, call Elijah, let him know what’s going on.”

“What do you want us to do?” John asked, gesturing to the rest of them.

“Find Tyler Lockwood and that Hayley. I want to know everything about the both of them.” I said shortly. I would deal with _that_ problem later.

I had to figure out what was wrong with Caroline. She was vomiting up blood and just acting strange. She was still her bright and bubbly self, lighting up the room, it’s just that there was a touch of awkwardness about her.

She must be hiding something from me.

I was tempted to follow her, to figure out where she was going. But, I needed to trust her.

Kol strode back into the room, getting off the phone with Elijah.

“I’ve never seen anyone with that much control over you brother. It’s… refreshing.” He mocked, sitting down with his morning alcohol.

“Well the witch could tell you to stake yourself and you would probably do it… The only difference between you and me is I get wonderfully rewarded, and you just get cold shoulder…”

I must have wounded him, probably because I’m right. He grabbed the alcohol bottle and chugged the rest of it, throwing it the ground.

“Well you showed me.” I teased him.

“Fuck off.” He answered irritably.

“We found him. About five minutes away near the piers.” Mendez announced, tapping a blip on the screen.

“Up for some hunting brother?” I ask, looking at Kol.

“Nothing better to do.” He answers, getting up and grabbing his leather jacket. Then he reaches into the closet, grabbing a cross bow and a rather large, heavy silver chain.

“You two.” He said curtly to some of the buzz cuts, “Get an SUV, go to the address, and get the body when we’re done with him. I want someone to get up an interrogation room, preferable with a water tank. Of vervain.” I forgot how good he is with this stuff. My brother may be impulsive, reckless, but he’s second only to me in this area. “Also try and find some good knives, check antique shops, preferably Zulu or maybe track down a Baselard. And get me a baseball bat.”

I walk to the closet and grab a stake, then follow my brother out the door.

*Bound By Blood*

Of course they took the car.

I didn’t _like_ walking. Kol of course loved it. He had his headphones in and was completely ignoring me. Why had I gotten him that device again?

At least I had time to plan out exactly what I wanted to do with all of Katarina’s people.

Elijah could handle the little bitch; I’m sure, getting the cure away from her.

I could easily kill the wolf-girl, but of course there was the matter of _Tyler._ I couldn’t just kill him. He had been Caroline’s and though he had broken her heart, I suspect she still cared for him in some way. But, I couldn’t let him run free.

We reached the location surprisingly quickly. Kol yanked his ear buds out and looked at me.

It was a run-down warehouse, quite close to the pier where our boat was docked.

“What’s the play, brother?” He asked me. I surveyed the building only one door, high windows.  I could hear faint movement toward the left, not the right corner of the building.

“Speed in. You’re first. Stake the right arm, I’ll do left. I want him pinned to the wall.”

Kol nodded his head. Sliding a stake down his jacket arm, he looked once at me, his eyes alight with excitement. Then, with a grin he brought his foot to the door. It burst inward and he sped in. I followed him.

He already has the man pinned to the wall, fangs out, hissing at each other. I lazily staked his other arm.

“So, you’re Katarina’s little bitch. Well, maybe you could give her a little message. I am going to take **everything** from her.”

I snapped his neck, letting the threat hang like his limp body.

“Let’s see what he has.” I told Kol curtly.

The corner of the warehouse was set up like an office, or to be more accurate a spy’s office. It was a large cubicle with cheap walls set up around it. There’s a map of Miami, another of the US and another of the world on one wall. All with red push pins.

Papers were scattered all over the desk, with a handy list of phone numbers next to it.

Kol handed me the list, while going through one of the many file cabinets lining the fourth wall.

There were quite a few names on the list, with locations too. Heading up the list, however, was Katherine.

Hayley Maxwell (Appalachians/Mystic Falls/?)

Tyler Lockwood (Mystic Falls/?)

Anthony Blunt (London)

Otto Skornzey (Eastern Bloc)

Basil Zarhoff (Middle East)

Elizabeth Bathory (?)

Some of the names were historical, villains of history.

I didn’t want to track down some of these people. But, Katarina needed to be stopped.

The two men Kol had ordered to come walked in and silently grabbed the body hauling it to the SUV.

“One of you!” Kol yells as they walk out, “Go compel some movers and get all this stuff back to the apartment.”

“Yes sir.” One of them, I think Hart says.

“Ready to go have some fun brother?” He asked, his eyes alight. I shoved the list into my pocket for later and nodded at him. Torture was a wonderful way to spend a day

*Bound By Blood*

**Caroline POV**

As I drove, Bonnie stared at me waiting for an explanation.

“Care, what’s wrong with you?”

“I don’t know alright! I can’t keep down blood bags, I woke up this morning vomiting, and I just want to cry all the time! And I swear I’m hearing things!” I yelled, tears starting to stream down my face.

“What are you hearing?”

“ANOTHER HEARTBEAT! ANOTHER VAMPIRE HEART BEAT!” I was hysterical, again.

“Care, is it possible that you…?” She asked, confirming what I’m thinking.

“It’s not supposed to be. But, it certainly seems like it.”

“So… What do you want to do about it?” She asked, raising her eyebrows at me.

“First _we_ are going shopping. Then, spa-ing. And, then I am going to get a test and figure all this out. God, I need some retail therapy. And Klaus is paying.”

I was in control. I had a plan. And I was _not…._  I wouldn’t even let myself think of it.

I plugged in the directions to one of the more expensive malls in Miami into the GPS.

“So, what’s going on between you and Kol?” I asked desperate for conversation.

 “Seriously Care?” Bonnie gave me a look as I pulled into the parking lot. “There is **nothing** going on between us.”

“So all those looks, all that _sexual tension,_ there is **nothing** going on? Puh-lease Bonnie.” I exited the car, grabbing my purse and the all-important credit card.

“We’re just friends.” She answered, breaking.

“Just friends” I said, putting air quotes around it. “Friends don’t come in the middle of the night and sleep on the couch with the other. Friends don’t suggestively eye fuck over coffee. Friends don’t make-out.”

“How did you see that?” She yelled playfully, guiltily.

“You guys were not that discreet!” I laughed, pushing her lightly.

“Ok, maybe I like him…” She admitted, walking into the mall. I immediately drag her towards the Saks.

“So how’s the sex?” I ask.

“WE HAVEN’T DONE IT. WE’VE ONLY KISSED OK?” She yells at me.

“How many times?”

“None of your business.”

“So that means more than once.”

“It’s complicated, ok?” She said, as I walked boldly towards shoes. “I mean it’s so much more than… everything.”

“How so?” I asked, inspecting a pair of Louboutins.

“Did you know he used to be a warlock?” she stated. What? This was new.

“What?”

“Before he turned. Why do you think he’s so interested in witches and magic?”

“So is he living through you? Or is there some kinky witchy warlock sex you just haven’t told me about…”

“No! It’s some weird bond! He’s seriously disturbed! I mean he tries to use magic in his sleep…”

“How do you know what he’s doing in his sleep Miss Bennett?”

“Because we have to share! And he has these terrible nightmares and I don’t know! But, whenever I touch him, they just… stop. And I feel like closer than ever to nature almost as if the expression is… coming out of me!”

“So, what you’re saying is… it’s a really twisted, kinky connection that you guys have that can’t even really be classified.” I said slowly. Wow. This was a lot.

“Exactly! And it’s not like its wrong or anything… He’s just really messed up…”

“I’ll act like I know nothing about that.” Ohhh… Wedges. My mind was seriously all over the place. But, they were cute shoes.

“Care… How do you see past all the bad stuff Klaus has done? I keep trying to do it, but all I can see is blood on everyone’s hands. Yours, mine, theirs. Everyone.”

“I don’t. You can’t forget anything. I don’t _want_ to forget anything. He just gave me a reason to look past the monster and see the man hiding beneath. It isn’t his fault he’s like this. Same goes for Kol, me, Rebekah, Stefan. Their childhood… was in short horrible. And when they turned, they didn’t have a support system. They didn’t know how to explain any of it. And they had to run. Being chased can change people. Being on the run, it turns people into Katherine, for God’s sake. All of had to become what we are out of necessity. There’s no going back. But, there’s hope for us all.”

“Deep thoughts while shopping, Care.” Bonnie stated, her eyes thoughtful, still pondering my words.

 “Well _it is_ retail therapy… Come on… I need some new dresses.”

“Care, you packed a steamer trunk.”

“So?” I said giggling, before running off with Bonnie.

*Bound By Blood*

**Klaus POV**

Kol was treating the torture chamber like a playground. They had set it up rather quick, though they _had_ gotten him those special daggers.

I liked the tank edition. Vervain was so useful in making people talk.

We were waiting for MacKieran to bring in the prisoner and just let him leave him on the floor. I dialed my cell phone while Kol took delight in chaining him up.

“John, get down here. And bring your interrogation expert, I need this guy alive.”

“On my way.”

The man began to groan, waking up. Kol’s eyes brightened, grabbing a vervained-dipped dagger from the table of toys.

“Good morning!” He said, brightly, dragging the dagger across the man chest.

He screamed, though the wound healed almost instantly. But, the smell of his blood was enough to tell me he was on vervain.

John and other man stride into the room, the man’s coat jingling with the sound of various toys.

“What have we got?” the man, I think Poshepny, asked taking off his tan trench coat and spreading it out. Silver glittered.

“He’s full of vervain.” Kol spat, running the man through with a blunt sword. All he does is grit his teeth.

John walked up to the man, and surveyed him. Poshepny grabbed something from the coat and threw it at the man’s arm. A Japanese shuriken.

“So, are you going to talk or are we going to keep going?” John asked threateningly. The man spat in his face.

“My turn.” I said, rushing at the man, baring my fangs. Hybrid bites are so good getting people to … talk. He tastes disgusting, from all the vervain in his system. But, the bite does its job.

“You might want to start talking. Hybrid bites are no worse than werewolf bites, and my friend here possesses the cure.” John said dangerously. The man shook his head. Kol stabbed him again. One way or another, this man was going to talk.

*Bound By Blood*

It took 15 minutes. Kol had broken at least 11 baseball bats, while Poshepny had used about half of the little silver toys in his trench coat, half of which I hadn’t even heard of.

It must have been the venom that sent him over the edge.

He had been a treasure trove of information. He had been turned by Katarina during the Second World War, in the Pacific. He was American and most interestingly enough, he knew Damon Salvatore.

I dialed the number of the Vampire Gigolo, after feeding him my blood. Kol was having fun bleeding the vervain out of him, while I took care of this business.

“Well, Hello Hyrbid Ken. Need us to pick up Vampire Barbie?” the ass’s sarcastic tone came from the phone. I had liked Damon Salvatore. In some ways we were more alike than Stefan and I, except the Salvawhore couldn’t get over that bloody doppelganger.

“Actually mate, I’m calling about a friend of yours. Will? He was tailing us, by orders of Katarina, so I took matters into my own hands.”

“What the fuck?” Damon says alarmed.

“I’m not going to kill him though… I’m actually asking for a favor.” I asked, nervously.

“What’s with the compassion, Klaus? Why aren’t you calling me to taunt?” he asked, suspiciously. He had a right to be. I wasn’t known for my compassion. I didn’t have it. But, this wasn’t compassion.

“He’s more use to me alive than dead. He _is_ Katarina’s spy, and in this game, you don’t just kill someone. You use them. As soon as Kol bleeds the vervain out of him, I am going to compel William here to be a double agent. No double crossing, no back-stabbing. You don’t know anything about this game, Salvatore.” I hissed at him through the phone.

“Fine, fine. What’s the favor?” He asked irritably into the phone.

“I need you to go somewhere, anywhere, with Elena… We’re going to set a false trail.”

“So I’m the bait? That’s low, Klaus.” I can hear his eye roll.

“Would you rather I just kill him? Or send him on a suicide mission?” I threatened.

“I guess I have no choice. Ok, tell him to meet me in New York…” I almost hung up, but he had something else to say.

“You wouldn’t kill him. Caroline’s changed you as much as Elena’s changed me… Welcome to weakness, Klaus.” And then the asshole hung up.

I almost threw the phone at the wall, before deciding against it.

He was right, as much as I hated it. I _was_ weak, and the scariest part? I didn’t want to do anything to change it.

*Bound By Blood*

**Caroline POV**

I had to feed. And the spa attendant just happened to be there. It hadn’t been too bad. Compelled not to scream or feel pain, I drank my fill. After compelling her to forget, I sat back down on the table.

This wasn’t me. Caroline Forbes would have never fed from someone. It brought back to many memories. But, I was in control. I drank until I didn’t need to anymore. Still I drank from someone.

Massages were supposed to be relaxing, though I felt like crying. I was a horrible person. I had promised myself to never feed on someone, and now I gave myself the excuse that I _had_ to.

I was out of control.

Planning would give me some semblance of control, control I no longer had. I was going to call Klaus, tell him to get dinner from that Mexican place I liked, I was going to buy the test, take it, and forget all about it when it came back negative. And I was going to get Bonnie and Kol together.

They were adorable together…  And I mean, Bonnie didn’t even _like_ people that easily. When she says there’s a connection, there’s a connection.

I relaxed back into the massage. I was calm. I was in control.

*Bound By Blood*

Klaus wasn’t home. I assume he was picking the Mexican food I had ordered him to get or dealing with Katherine’s spy.

I didn’t really care as long as he was out of the apartment.

Bonnie was taking a shower; I could hear her quietly singing some Beyoncé song.

I took the test out of my bag, and carefully unwrapped it and read the instructions. Apparently I was supposed to pee on it, and then wait 3 minutes for the results to show. This was easy.

I peed on it and then put it face down on the counter. I took off my heels, set a timer on my phone, and sat down at my vanity.

Taking my hair down from its bun, I shook it out and grabbed a brush. I raked it through my messy blonde waves and smile at the pictures in the corners of the mirror, the new additions mostly.

Bonnie and I laughing on a beach.

A drawing of Klaus and me kissing underwater. It was defiantly my new favorite.

The top right corner wasn’t even me. It was that photo I took of the Original Family Bear hug. Tears were in all their eyes and never could you more clearly see their humanity.

Family. That was where their humanity was.  I smiled to myself staring at the two illustrations of Klaus. I had thought once that he was a monster with no feeling, a beast who couldn’t love.

But, he had a spectrum of emotions so intense; he just didn’t show them to those who could hurt him.

The timer went off, and I got up, so nervous my heart was beating near human time.

The color pink is disgusting. I hate it.

“I’m pregnant.” I whispered with tears building in my eyes, of sadness or of joy I don’t know. I was no longer in control.


	21. Humanity

Bound By Blood

**Chapter XXI: Humanity**

_They are human after all, you think,_

_as the waiter steps up to a table_

_out of sight of you,_

_reserved, corner table—_

_they too are thin-skinned and pleasure-seeking,_

_with their own feelings and their own sufferings._

_You’re not so all alone_

_in your mess, your restlessness, your shakes,_

_they too will be full of doubt, dither, shilly-shallying,_

_even if it’s all about making deals,_

_the universal-human_

_albeit in its commercial manifestations,_

_but present there too._

_Truly, the grief of hearts is ubiquitous_

_and unending,_

_but whether they were ever in love_

_(outwith the awful wedded bed)_

_burning, athirst, desert-parched_

_for the nectar of a faraway_

_mouth,_

_sinking, drowning_

_in the impossibility of a union of souls—_

_you won’t know, nor can you_

_ask the waiter,_

_who’s just ringing up_

_another bock,_

_always avid for coupons_

_to quench a thirst of another nature,_

_though also deep._

_-Gottfried Benn, They are Human After All_

_(Translated from German by Michael Hoffman)_

**Caroline POV**

I shoved the test into my purse as I heard the door open to the sound of Kol’s laughing and Klaus’s playful tone. I ran for the shower.

Klaus could not know. Not yet. Everything was normal. Everything was fine. I was… lying to myself.

Throwing my purse behind a rack of clothes and jumping into the shower, I exhaled. His footsteps echoed from the bedroom nearing the door.

“Caroline?” He said knocking on the door.

“Yes?” I answered, hoping my voice sound normal. Surprisingly, it did.

“I got dinner.” He said timidly. Why did he sound so nervous? Did he know?

“Ok, I’ll be done in a bit.” Could he just leave? I couldn’t tell him. I had to figure out _how_ to tell him.

“I’ll be in my studio.” He said awkwardly. His footsteps faded and I relaxed.

Why was I pregnant _now?_  I was dead! The hysterical part of me tried to break it down. I mean there was something—a child—growing inside me, depending on me!

Calm down, Caroline.

Breathe.

I sat down on the tile floor of the shower, letting the stream pound onto my curved spin. I moved my hand over my abdomen almost hypnotically.

It had to be Klaus’s.

Tyler… and I hadn’t done it since the lady bitch-wolf had come into the picture, about 3 months ago. No way would I just be showing symptoms _now._

Maybe it was because Klaus was a hybrid.  But, Tyler was one as well… And we had been doing it for months. I hadn’t been pregnant then.

“What had we done differently?” I muttered to myself, running my other hand through my soaked hair.

It hit me.

We had blood shared.

I had never been able to do it with Tyler, with my certain death. I couldn’t explain how I knew, but it made sense.

I laughed in spite of all of this.

I was having a baby.

A baby.

I had always wanted kids. Wanted to show my parents how much better I could do. I always dreamed of being the PTA mom, driving her kids to soccer practice, and the cute husband and house to match.

I had thought I lost it all.

Apparently I hadn’t.

Though my stomach looked flat, I ran my hands down it trying to imagine the bump.

This child was going to be loved, even if Klaus blew up and said he didn’t want it. Both of us, to say the least, hadn’t grown up in the best environments. But, _our_ child was going to have the support, the love we didn’t.

Bending down, I press my lips to my flat stomach, shielding my child from harm.

“I love you.”

*Bound By Blood*

I had only known for a grand total of 45 minutes that I was with child and already, I couldn’t stop touching my stomach.

It was a compulsion, really. I wanted to keep reminding myself that there was someone there.

The food smelled really good, however, pulling me away from my inspection of my stomach area. I pulled down my sweater shirt and evaluated myself.

Normal.

The scene in the kitchen was quietly domestic. Bonnie flipped through a grimorie, her spoon half-raised to her mouth, stopped as she read. Kol had a football game on quietly; pointless really, I doubt he even knew what was going on. The faint stroke of a paintbrush came from Klaus.

I grabbed a blood bag and a plate, walking into the art studio, sitting quietly on a chaise behind Klaus. The canvas took up almost half the room, Klaus stood on a step ladder in the far right corner, detailing the top.

It was abstract. Unsure of it was exactly it was, it emitted a feeling of… happiness. I could pick out certain elements. The left half of the painting was dark, red and black, while the right was light, white and yellow like heaven itself. They met in the middle, entwining them as one. The dark was lighter, the light darker.

“It’s stunning.” I tell him taking a sip of the blood. It shouldn’t make me sick. I had fed on _someone_ today as much as I hated it. I should be fine.

“You like it?” He asked, glancing down at me. I smiled.

“Of course. What are you going to call it?” I think it’s something to do with me, with us. Light and Dark.

“I really don’t know yet. I merely built on the struggle and meeting of light and dark.”

“What do you mean by that?”

He jumped down from the ladder and walked over to me. My heart pounded. Why was I so nervous? It was just Klaus.

I mentally scoff at myself. A couple of months ago, he wasn’t just Klaus. He was Klaus: murder, hybrid, life-ruiner.

But, what was he now?

“Someone told me once, that darkness was merely the absence of light.” He said, sitting down on the bottom edge of the chaise.

“From experience, I have a theory. Darkness purposely _avoids_ light, while at the same time craves it. You fight it, becoming darker, but as the darkness consumes you, interestingly enough, you crave the light even more.” Our hands meet about halfway. I like him this way. Waxing on philosophical, in the corner of his mind where the tortured artist resides.

“Redemption is needed by those who are the farthest away from it.” I said, almost completing his thought. He nodded, eyes meeting mine.

His eyes are captivating. I find myself wishing our child would have them. They look so innocent. Sparkling with mischief sometimes, the deep cornflower iris stare into my soul. Unlike my own cerulean blues, his have so much more _depth._ Or maybe it’s just the centuries behind them.

They made me uncomfortable, as though he could see my secret on display. Technically it was; he just was a bit blind. Or deaf.

“Caroline, are you ok?” He asked me quietly, gesturing to the glass of blood in my hand. I nodded, hopefully convincingly. I wasn’t winning any Academy Awards at the moment.

He didn’t believe it, though he doesn’t question me further. Crawling over to me, he wrapped his arms around me and pressed his lips to my forehead.

I closed my eyes, back to contemplating my question.

What was he?

Caring, sweet, kind.

Still dangerous, powerful, dark.

Though he was a man. Sure a broken, twisted, thousand year old man. But, a man none the less.

What was he? To me?

A protector. I was safe with him, right where I belonged, in his arms.

Lover, in every possible way.

Though he didn’t know it, a Father.

He was everything I needed, wanted, and now, had.

*Bound By Blood*

I _had_ to tell him. It was hard to keep a secret from him. I mean, his eyes, they cut into your soul, exposing all your secrets.

While he showered, I grabbed my purse from the depths of my closet, where I had carelessly tossed it.

Staring at the test again, I smile to myself and place a hand over my stomach, still not believing it.

Delicately placing proof of the miracle, I rolled into bed. I had changed into one of my favorite pairs of pajamas. They were so much more comfortable than just the sweatshirt I had worn earlier, and a lot more revealing. Just a lacy tank top and a pair of embroidered shorts I had kept since the start of high school. They reminded me of home.

I flipped through an old Cosmo waiting for Klaus to come to bed. I would just tell him in the morning.

As I read an article about spring trends, Klaus emerged from the bathroom in his standard pair of sleeping boxers.

He crawls into bed beside me, as I reach over to turn off the bedside lamp, then snuggled into him.

“I love you.” He muttered. I grinned. I would _never_ get tired of him saying that.

“I love you, too.” I murmured into his chest, slowly drifting to sleep.

*Bound By Blood*

“Caroline? Caroline.” Klaus was shaking me awake, the light of the bedside lamp shining in my face.

“What?” I grumbled irritably, throwing an arm across my eyes.

“Listen. Do you hear something?”  Shit. I’m suddenly extremely alert. I forgot he could probably hear the heartbeat too.

“I thought I’m just imagining it. I mean I’m probably hearing things. Or it’s Kol’s.” He rambled, sitting up.

“Klaus.” I said seriously.

“I mean I _am_ half-asleep and…”

“Klaus.” I repeat, louder, sharper this time.

“Quite frankly, I’m a bit too paranoid…”

“Klaus!” I yell. He shut up.

“You’re not hallucinating.” He looked at me, confused. I reached over to the bedside table, opening the drawer, and pulling out the test.

“What’s that?” He asked. He couldn’t see it yet.

“Klaus, I’m pregnant.” I say, handing him the test. His eyebrows scrunch together. He’s dazed, confused, worried, and…. fearful?

“I’m sorry Klaus.” I breathed. I’m really not, but it seemed like the right thing to say.

“Mine?” He asked, staring at me. I couldn’t judge his reaction. He was still in a state of stunned silence, processing the news.

“You’re the only person I’ve slept with in four months… Unless I’m the reincarnation of Mary Immaculate, it’s yours.” I replied taking the test from him and returning it to its’ careful place inside the drawer. When I turn back around, it’s my turn to be stunned.

There are tears in his eyes, slowly making their way down his cheeks.

Suddenly, he grabbed me, burying his head him my shirt. He’s actually sobbing. Flat out, snot and all, sobbing.

I awkwardly rubbed his back, unsure of exactly why he was crying. Trying to get a grip on himself, he mutters something into my stomach.

He looked up at me, his chin still resting on my stomach.

“I’m… I’m sorry, Caroline. It’s just… I thought I lost this opportunity a long time ago. I’m not meant to have kids. My father said....” I was suddenly angry. Mikael was reaching back from the grave to screw with Klaus. I had enough of this man, who I hadn’t even met. He screwed up Klaus, physically and emotionally. He tore his whole family apart.

“Your father was an asshole. Stop letting him dominate your mind! Klaus, listen to me.” I exploded at him, firmly taking his chin with one hand, forcing him to look me in the eyes.

“You are going to be a great father. Prove Mikael wrong; show him how great your werewolf side is. That part of you doesn’t come from him, it’s your own. And it’s one of the best things about you, Klaus.”

He looked at me, confused. He being a hybrid had basically destroyed my life.

“Werewolves are loyal, strong, and fiercely protective. They would rather die than see their family getting hurt. Isn’t that the Original Family mantra? Family is everything? _You_ are the reason they’ve survived this long. Sure, your techniques were a little rude, but you kept them safe. Just as you’re going to do with this baby. Alright?”

He nods his head, and I take my hand off his chin. However, he keeps his head pressed to my stomach.

I reached over a bit, and turned off the light. Lying back on the pillows, he was still there. I quirked my eyebrows, though he couldn’t see them.

“Klaus… Are you going to get off of me?”

“No.” He says defiantly into my stomach.

“But Klaus…” I whine. “I’m going to be up puking at five. I wanna go to bed.”

“Fine.” He conceded, rolling over to his part of the bed. I turned to face him. He was staring at me again, his eyes once again serious, a stormy color they seemed to turn during moments like these.

“Caroline… I’m scared.”

Did he seriously just say that? Klaus, the second most powerful creature to walk the face of the earth, was scared?

“Ummm… what?” I was actually shocked. How could he be scared? Most people would be excited. Then again, we weren’t normal people.

“You heard me.” He said inaudibly. “I’m scared. I don’t know any of this. The last time I was around children, really around them, I didn’t have a very good role model. What if I do turn out like Mikael?”

He always thinks he’s never good enough. Like he said earlier, the darkness craves light. Or in this case, love. But he shies away from it, thinking he doesn’t deserve it. And of course, he was wrong.

“You won’t. I won’t let you. I’m not Esther. I won’t let anyone I love get abused. You’re sure as hell not Mikael.”

He wanted to protest with me, still with lurking doubts planted all those centuries by Mikael.

“I love _you._ So stop, worrying about it and go to sleep.” I told him, ending the topic. I kissed him, quickly then roll over, immediately pretending to be asleep.

He _would_ be a good father. Better than Damon anyways.

I just hoped I would be a good enough mother.

*Bound By Blood*

**Klaus POV**

I couldn’t wrap my head around the idea.

Caroline was pregnant. She had a baby—my baby—growing inside of her.

I was going to be a _father._

The word “father” has so many negative connotations to me; I shrink away from the title.

Father was an abusive man who said no one could ever love me. Father was an angry title, which I would shout when I was near death from beatings. Father was what I shrieked when he plunged his sword into my chest.

I didn’t know if I could be something other than what I had been for the past thousand years. A monster.

I wasn’t someone you wanted to hug, to read you stories, to play with you. People shrank away from me.

But, children loved unconditionally. And that’s what I feared most.

I wasn’t worthy of a child’s love, unlike Caroline.

Caroline, she deserved this. I could tell something had been off with her earlier. Her heart rate had been up, masking the beat of her child’s and she had almost a nervous excitement about her.

She wanted this.

I wasn’t sure if I was worthy of this.

I looked over at her sleeping form. She really was an angel. Her aureate hair spread out on the pillow in a golden sheaf, clothed in white, she curled in on herself. Both hands cradled her stomach subconsciously. In fetal position, the focal point was her stomach.

I reached over to put my hand on it. There was a slight curvature to it, not very noticeable, but it was certainly there.  I wrapped my arm around her midsection, pulling her into me. She makes a slight “murph!” at her disapproval, settling into my chest sighing.

My arms settle, one around her shoulder, the other protectively around her waist.

“I’ll protect you. At all costs.” I vowed, though I’m not sure to who exactly. Both I guess.

*Bound By Blood*

**Caroline POV**

The vomiting was not as bad as yesterday’s. I didn’t get it all over me. Yet, I was still running out of bed at five am.

Klaus had actually gotten up. Probably because it was sort of hard to sleep with the sounds I was making. He walked into the bathroom, took one look at me, and held my hair back while I puked my intestines out.

It was his fault after all, though I wasn’t going to tell him that.

But how was I going to tell everyone else. It wasn’t like I could say, “Hey, I’m pregnant with our former enemy’s baby even though both of us are technically dead!”

I guess I should tell our families first, though I wasn’t even exactly sure how to tell even my mom, much less the Original Family.

I guessed I would just start with Bonnie and Kol. Bonnie had suspected with me, while Kol takes everything in stride.

Klaus had an odd look on his face, a mixture of perpetual astonishment and fear, since I had woken, vomiting off and on until I just went back to sleep at early light.

When I woke up again, he was gone.

I didn’t particularly want to get up. I was comfortable in bed, avoiding the world. I didn’t want to have to tell anyone.

Kol and Bonnie were arguing again. I couldn’t hear Klaus, but I assumed the third sound of sipping coffee was him.

Throwing off the covers, I stared down at myself. There was a bit of blood on my top. I huffed, getting up and walk over to the closet. I pull out one of Klaus’s Henley’s and switch it.

The kitchen was quiet. Klaus was still wearing that same annoying expression on his face, while Bonnie and Kol, who had been fighting just a moment before, were laughing about something.

“Morning!” I chirped, walking over to Klaus, who stood next to the coffeepot. Planting a kiss on his cheek, and pouring myself a cup, I appeared cheery; probably giving Bonnie the impression the test was negative.

Klaus was a wreck. His hair stuck out, the curls all going in different directions. Bags lined his eyes, which were wide and just in pure shock. Personally, I thought he looked adorable.

He looked vulnerable, something he hated. But, I liked him like this.

His phone rung. Klaus temporarily mushed his pants searching for the device before pulling it out of the back pocket.

“Go.” He ordered shortly into the phone.

“Can we come up?” a voice asked on the other end.

“Did you find something?” Klaus asked harshly into the phone.

“Definitely.” The man says shortly before the line goes dead.

Bonnie met my eyes, asking me for my test results. I mouth to her “later.” Her eyes went wide.

 “Care…” She started, before I waved her off.

The front door opened and Masterman strides in with an armful of papers.

“She left New Orleans today, under the alias Tatiana Karlowa. Russian passport. We had two men at the airport. One tracked the car service. The other went on her plane.”

“Where was she going?” Klaus asked sharply, grabbing his phone already punching in numbers.

“She changed planes twice. She flew to Mexico City, first. Then, got on a plane to LA. About 1,000 flights leave LAX every day. We don’t know which one she’s going on.”

“So she’s still there?” He asked, pausing in his vigorous number punching.

“Yes, our man still has eyes on her. Well, a camera.”

“What did your man at the car service find?”

“Well, she was staying at the swankiest hotel in town. And the man’s been watching the lobby. About five minutes ago a man matching the description you gave us for Tyler Lockwood came downstairs with a woman matching the description for Hayley Maxwell.”

“Are they still there?” Klaus asked his eyes extremely bright.

“They didn’t check out.”

“Well, then it looks like we are going to be paying Marcel a visit. John, I want you to set up your team in DC. We’ll be back in Mystic soon, but I need you to get a hold on the CIA agents. We need more eyes. Call me as soon as Katarina boards a plane. I’m sending my brother after her.” He barked.

“Is that all?” Masterman asked mildly.

“Yes, thank you.” He walked out, as Klaus violently punched the keypad of his phone.

“ELIJAH!” he yelled into the phone.

“What?” the other Original voice came from the other line sleepily.

“Katarina is on the move. Left New Orleans, changed planes twice. Currently in Los Angeles. There’s a man at the airport. Get on a plane, **NOW.”**

“Where to?” Elijah asks. I can hear him getting out of bed, pulling on clothes, slamming drawers.

“Well, where are you now?”

“Las Vegas.” I was surprised. The stodgy Original in Vegas? There was obviously more to Elijah that what meets the eye.

“Then LA. Hopefully she’ll still be there.”

“And what is your plan, brother?”

“I’m going to visit old friends.”

It was quiet for a few moments before Bonnie exploded.

“Care what do you mean?” She shouted. I was surprised she lasted this long. I mean none of us were exactly known for our patience.

“Wait what?” Kol said confused. I let out an exasperated sigh. I glanced at Klaus. He doesn’t make eye contact; he’s too busy having a staring contest with the floor.

“Um. So…” I started, placing a hand on my stomach. Both Bonnie and Kol’s jaws drop. Klaus clears his throat uncomfortably.

“Are you kidding me?!?” Bonnie screeches.

“No… I’m having a baby…” I say, actually quite calmly.

“Well, congratulations brother. You now currently hold the title of biggest mistake made by a Mikaelson. But, don’t worry. I’ll do something reckless soon enough.” Kol said, making it into a joke. I smile a bit, so does Klaus, though clearly Bonnie doesn’t find it amusing.

She whacks him on the side of the head.

“What the hell was that for?”

“This isn’t a joke, Kol! This isn’t supposed to happen. Actually, it hasn’t _ever_ happened before! So stop making a joke of it!” She rambled, before smashing into me with a massive hug.

“I suppose I should tell you congratulations.” She mutters into my shirt.

“I didn’t do anything.” I laughed, awkwardly patting her head.

“Hey, Bonnie, could you like… get off of me? I think I need to go throw up again…” She immediately detaches herself from me and I vamp speed away, barely making it.

_Delightful._ I thought to myself.

*Bound By Blood*

Packing didn’t take long. Well, for us anyways. For some reason, Bonnie and Kol took the longest. Their room was a mess, grimories shoved into every corner, papers strewn about.

While we waited, I called my mom.

She picked up the fourth time, groggily. She must have taken another night shift.

“Mommy?” I asked, suddenly feeling like a little girl again.

“Caroline, honey, how are you?” My mom asked me. I could almost see her. Her short blonde hair looking like a cannon hit it, mashed into one side of her head. Her police uniform, which she slept in is rumbled, and the worry lines as she speaks to me.

“I’m… amazing.” I told her smiling. I didn’t want to lie to my mom.  “We’re actually about to leave Miami for New Orleans. How are things back home?”

“Quiet. Every single vampire is gone, so we are getting back to some sense of normalcy.”

“Mom… Something’s happened.” I started.

“What! Did Klaus hurt you?” She said sharply, the sleepiness gone from her voice.

“No, never Mom! It’s good! Amazing, Impossible actually! I’m pregnant!” I burst. I was horrible at keeping secrets.

The other end was dead silent for a moment. I headr her exhale and inhale once.

“Caroline, are you sure? Both of you are technically…”

“Dead. I know. I think I had something to do with blood sharing. I’m not sure. All I know it that about thirty tests can’t lie. And I can hear the heartbeat. Mom, I can hear it. It’s weird and incredible at the same time.”

“Care, honey, are you sure that you’re ready for this? I mean you are only 18…”

“Mom, it doesn’t matter. I’m not going to get an abortion or loose this child, it might be my only chance.”

“I guess it is your choice.” She sighed. It was a lot to take in, not all over it good. Your immortal vampire daughter who is pregnant with her thousand year old hybrid killer boyfriend’s baby is not what every mother wants to hear. No mother wants to even hear her daughter is pregnant, at least before she’s married.

“How did Klaus take the news?” She asked quietly. His temper was no secret in Mystic Falls.

“Surprisingly well… I mean he wasn’t angry, he’s actually scared.”

“Klaus? We are talking about the same person right?” We both laughed a bit. It was rather ridiculous, though it hadn’t looked so at the time.

“Caroline, are you happy?”  She probed, interrogating further.

She hadn’t asked me that before. Ever. Sure, she had asked if I was ok, the proper answer being fine, but never if I was happy. And for the first time in my life, I realized I was.

“Yes mom, more than you can ever imagine.” I confessed, mentally wrapping my arms around her and hugging her.

“I love you, Mommy. I’ll call you when I can” I make a kissy sound into the phone and hung up.

*Bound by Blood*

Kol shut the trunk with a sense of finality.

It has to be the 7th time calling Klaus was calling Rebekah, while I tried Stefan. His fingers drummed impatiently on the steering wheel.

Kol slammed the door to the middle section of the SUV, climbing in next to Bonnie. She quietly flipped through a grimorie making notes on a laptop.

“God dammit, Bekah answer your phone! What’s the point of having one if you don’t answer?” Klaus says angrily, slamming it down into the console, and putting the car into drive. I tried Stefan again, this time however he picked up.

“Hello?” He slurred from sleep or maybe a hangover.

“STEFAN!” I yelled into the phone. Two voices groaned at the sudden volume. “WE HAVE BEEN TRYING TO CALL YOU FOR AN HOUR!”

“Caroline, could you please be a little quieter?” Stefan moaned. “I think I’m hung-over.”

“Well, Klaus needs to speak with Rebekah ASAP, so if you could get up and find her.”

“Hello? Caroline?” Ok that was way too suspiciously quick for Stefan to go and give Rebekah the phone. Had they been…

“Caroline? Could you please give the phone to Nik so I can find out what the hell he wants and go back to bed?”

Klaus snatched the phone from me.

“Rebekah, you and Stefan are not going back to bed. Both of you are packing and compelling yourselves on the next flight to New Orleans.” He ordered quite rudely.

“WHAT?” She snapped. “You can’t order me around like that Nik!”

“Yes, I can Bekah. I need you and Stefan in New Orleans.”

“No.”

Klaus rolled his eyes, huffing.

“Please.” He muttered.

“Sorry, what was that?”  She was playing with him. And, of course, he was giving in.

“Please.” He uttered, almost intelligible through gritted teeth.

“I haven’t heard you say that in quite a while Nik.” Rebekah laughed, “We’ll be there as soon as a flight can leave. How far are you?”

“Another eleven hours.” He grumbled. Kol groaned from the back seat. Bonnie and I shared an eye roll.

“Have fun brother.”

“You too, sister. And next time, be a bit more discreet about sleeping with Stefan.” She scoffed, though Klaus just chuckled hanging up and focusing on the road.

I reached into my bag at my feet, pulling out one of the iPads Klaus left lying about in the apartment. Shopping would be fun, or a good way to block out the impending inevitable arguing of either Klaus and Kol or Kol and Bonnie.

I didn’t really want to shop for myself, I realized, as I scrolled through some of my favorites sites. Ustrendy, shopbop, and zappos weren’t appealing to me.

Kol and Bonnie were passed out in the back, him crumpled over his body bent in half while she curled herself in a tiny ball.

I put my back against the door, hiding the screen from any peeking eyes (Klaus!) and go to Pinterest, searching nursery.

I hand on my stomach, with a secretive smile on my lips.

“What are you doing?” Klaus asked me. I looked up, meeting his youthful grin. His eyes alight with their normal mischievous twinkle.

“Nothing.”

“Are you mad at me?” He asked with his stupid puppy dog eyes.

“Why would I be?”

“Most women don’t like unexpected pregnancy.” He stated with a sideways glance. Was he saying sorry?

“You. Are. An. Idiot.” I pointedly told him, emphasizing my words with a poke on one of his cheeks.

“Cut it out!” He says playfully, grabbing my hand. I giggled. He’s laughing too, dimples coming out to play, that same infectious laugh that he teased me with my Miss Mystic application with.

“Seriously, stop stepping around me like I’m a time bomb! I’m not mad about this! Can’t I just be happy for once!”

“Caroline…” His attention was back on the road, his eyes downcast.

“Yes…”

“What do you want it to be?”

“I don’t know… Why do you ask?”

“Because it’s bloody uncomfortable calling it “it” all the time.” Our eyes met again. It was weird doing this. The good kind of weird, but weird all the same.

“So you’re asking about names basically.”

“I think that Kol is an excellent name.” A voice piped from the back. Klaus and I whirled around, to where Kol is sitting placidly. Bonnie was still asleep.

“No.” Klaus says with finality.

“Why not? It’s such a wonderful name.” he protested.

“Because the name is associated with an asshole.” Bonnie said from her ball, her hair matted over her face.

“I don’t know any other Kols… Do you Miss Bennett? I would like to talk to the person sullying my grand name.”

“He’s in this car.” She emerged from her ball, pushing her hair out of her eyes.

Kol looks moderately injured, while Bonnie just rolled her eyes.

“I don’t know Caroline. Men don’t really think of this sort of stuff, unless we have to. Now, I do.”

“Well, all of you have sort of a theme.”

“What do you mean? That we’re devastatingly attractive and brilliant?” Kol joked, paying for it with a blow to the head from the witch.

“No, don’t all of you have K in your names? Well, except for Elijah…”

“And Finn…” Klaus corrected.

“No one cares about Finn.” Kol chimed in. Another blow this time courtesy of his brother.

“Seriously, I’m going to get brain damage if you two don’t stop.”

“Too late.” Bonnie said, hitting him again.

“I’ve looked at a couple of sites.  Your names are Old English right? Do you know any others? Because, I am _not_ naming my child something like Kyle or Kaitlin. Those are too modern.”

“You know she miscarried a couple of times after Henrik. You remember that Kol?”

“Of course I do nimrod. Father was so angry we hid in the forest for 2 days.” Kol said, making it a joke. However, the looks on Bonnie’s face and mine were horrified. Though it had been a different time, this man, the real beast of the Mikaelson Family, had let his own family live in such fear that they became monsters.

“What were the names she liked? I think she had some picked out.”

“Ask Rebekah, how the hell am I supposed to know?” Kol snapped. Klaus rolled his eyes and turned off the highway on an exit labeled “New Orleans.”

We were here.

*Bound By Blood*

The French Quarter was alive though the regal antebellum mansion was quiet. Few lights were on, giving it the look of abandonment, despite the two blondes walking out to meet us.

The gates and walls were covered in thick ivy, obscuring the streets.

Instantly after Klaus parks, Kol opens the door and tumbles out of the car soon followed by Bonnie.

“About time! We’ve been up **forever.** ” Rebekah said impatiently, violently opening the driver’s door and hugging Klaus fiercely.

“We’ll I’m positive you and the Salvatore brother found _some_ way to entertain yourselves.” Kol drawled from the ground. He got up and dusted himself off before offering Bonnie his hand. She looked at him suspiciously, though he just rolls his eyes.

“Hey Care.” Stefan said huskily, coming up behind me. I squeal and pounce on him, crushing him with a hug.

“Nice to see you too.” He breathed sarcastically.

“How was Chicago?”

“Fabulous.” Rebekah answers for him, coming around behind us. “I hope my brothers didn’t try to kill each other too many times. How was Miami?”

“Hot. But, lovely all the same. Hey Klaus, could you get our stuff?” I called to him. He gave me a look, one saying “I-am-not-your-little-bitch”, I counter with “Yes, you are.” He huffed though he walked around to the trunk dragging Kol behind him as he went, both grumbling.

I laughed, as Rebekah sent Stefan back there too, though he doesn’t complain quite as loudly as Klaus or Kol did. As the men grabbed all the suitcases, boxes, and canvases (yes, apparently Klaus travelled with his art), she led us inside the grandiose mansion.

*Bound By Blood*

“We’ve own the house since the 1850’s, though I suspect Nik has remodeled more times than we were daggered. We spent most of our time here during the Civil War, though we ended up in Washington once the city burned.” Rebekah lectured, our heels clicking rhythmically on the dark glossy wood floors.

The house didn’t have the same kind of grandeur as their estate in Mystic Falls nor the modern airs of the Miami apartment. It had a southern charm, while at the same time imposed the same stature as a plantation home.

The entryway was lined with pink marble columns, topped with golden gilt framing a grand staircase, which curved and twisted and disappeared into the heights of the house.

She led us past the staircase, and through a black painted door and into the dark living room, decorated in black and red. The fireplace roared with orange flame in front of a main sitting area. We flopped onto the couches, decorated in a dark ombre fabric that had the most pleasant texture.

“When did you and Stefan get here?” I asked, as Rebekah busies herself at the bar.

“A couple of hours ago. I went shopping, he raided a blood bank.” She said, holding up the bottle, offering us the bourbon. We shook our heads.

Stefan and Kol walk into the room as Rebekah flopped herself unceremiously onto a couch with her drink.

“Where’s Klaus?” I asked

“He’s on the phone with Elijah. Katherine’s about to board a plane to Tokyo and we _need_ Elijah on there with her.” Stefan stated, grabbing a bottle of bourbon from the side table.

“Why are we stepping so lightly around Katherine? I mean she’s just another vampire.” I argued, huffing.

“She’s good at evading people. And getting the cure away from her won’t be easy.” Stefan countered.

“But I am hell bent on finding her.” Klaus announced, stomping into the room and sitting down beside me, snatching the bourbon bottle out of Stefan’s hands and taking a long swig from it. Rebekah and I crinkled our noses in identical disgust.

“Manners, brother, or has Kol completely seeped them out of you?” I grabbed the bottle from him in mid-drink and set it on the table, hard, giving him a dangerous look. He raiseed his eyebrows at me, questioning my action for a moment, but I merely return the raise, challenging him. He surrenders, lying back into the cushions and pouting.

“Is it still standing?” he snaps at his sister.

“Didn’t your informants already tell you it’s there? God, Nik you’re getting thick. It’s like a normal club, a bit higher class, but still a club.” She shortly said, taking a dainty sip from the glass.

“Well, just get started in the morning.” He grumbled, looking at me before getting up and stomping off into the depths of the house. I whispered a quick “good night” to the gathering before running after him.

“Caroline.” He warily greeted me on the staircase, and then carries on climbing. The house has height rather than width, probably due to its location in the heart of the bustling city.

We ascended to what had to be the top, the fourth floor, Klaus quite rudely kicking open the black door at the top. This house seemed to have a theme. Red and Black. Blood and darkness.

The chamber took up the entire floor, almost like a loft. Windows line the walls, displaying the landscape and sky like works of art, while two pairs of French doors at either end face each other, while a dark mahogany bed dominates the center. Our bags sat beside it.

“Finally…” I groaned, pulling my trunk towards the set of doors leading to the bathroom and presumably the closet. The bathroom was black, with a bronze bathtub in the center of the room and an obsidian shower in the corner. Abstract art of the same shades stares from every side.  I pushed my way through a set of darker doors, to reveal my closet. It’s nearly identical to the Miami and Mystic Falls one.

As I unpacked, I heard the shower start running, presumably Klaus. I didn’t want to join him though, instead standing in front of the copper rimmed body-length mirror, inspecting my stomach. Was that a bump?

I turn to the side, moving my hand across it. Yes, it was defiantly there.

“Are you kidding me?” I whined, storming out into the bathroom just in a pair of panties. Klaus’s head literally follows my every move as I stomp towards his closet.

“What are you doing love?” He asks clearly amused. However, I was **not** in the mood.

“Shut up, Klaus.” I walk into the closet and grab a Henley, throwing it on, and marching back out into the bathroom and curling up in the black sheets.

Confusion overtook me. I shouldn’t be showing, not this early. Ugh, what was my body doing? Was there some freaky supernatural factor that we didn’t know about?

I pushed my worries to the back of my mind as Klaus walked into the room and into bed with me.

“Um, Klaus, you left the lights on.” I tell him irritably. I was tired and messed up. I needed sleep.

He smirks at me, and clapped his hands twice. The room goes pitched black.

“I still have my tricks, love.” He said, grabbing me by the waist and pulling him into his chest. “What is with you and my clothes?”

“Because you smell good.” I muttered into his chest. He does, something almost pure masculinity, unlike anything I had ever experienced before. It was maturity, really, and I reveled in it. He brought one hand to my hair, running his finger through my waves, while the other stayed around my waist.

As I slowly drift off to sleep, I realize this isn’t a side of Klaus I had ever seen. Never had his humanity been clearer than in the vulnerability he looked down at me with.

“I love you both.” He whispered into my hair when he thought I was asleep.

Smiling a bit from the shores of slumber, I whispered back, “Love you too, daddy Hybrid.”

The last thing I hear before I succumb is his amused chuckle, as he tightened the grip around my stomach.


	22. Protection

Bound By Blood

**Chapter XXII: Protection**

_I do not love you as if you were a salt rose, or topaz_

_or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off._

_I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,_

_in secret, between the shadow and the soul._

_I love you as the plant that never blooms_

_but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;_

_thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,_

_risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body._

_I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where._

_I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;_

_So I love you because I know no other way_

_than this: where I does not exist, nor you,_

_so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,_

_so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep._

_-Pablo Neruda, Love Sonnet XVII_

**Caroline POV**

Dreams came easy tonight. They weren’t nightmares, thank god, but they were strange.

I was merely an onlooker in a normally terrifying scene. Wolves under a full moon. But, they weren’t blood thirsty beasts. They are but two, a hulking golden wolf with shockingly blue eyes and its miniature, a pup of the same shade.

The Father snapped as the pup, which had been quite innocently nipping at the larger wolf’s tail. The pup immediately fell behind the father, quietly, but every so often stumbling a bit.

When the pup finally tripped over its awkward legs, the Alpha I swear rolled his eyes, looking back at the adorable heap of fur that’s literally bent himself in half. As the wolf turned around, the pup snapped to attention but the Alpha gently and tenderly picked up the pup by the scruff of his neck and pressed on into the night.

Another howl pierced the night, this time volatile, vengeful. The Alpha looked fearfully into the darkness of the forest, before rushing off with the pup still in its teeth.

The scene somehow gave me a strange sense of comfort and as I jolted awake, running to the bathroom once again. Klaus didn’t even stir in his slumber.  He slept like the dead.

I didn’t know what to think about the dream. Was it an omen?

*Bound By Blood*

**Bonnie POV**

By some fluke, Kol and I were on the same floor of Klaus’s mansion. It hadn’t been the awkward the last night in Miami. We had a routine, no questions asked.

Though, I felt weird going to bed by myself tonight.

Around midnight, when I had just fallen asleep, noises began to permeate my subconscious from the outside world. Quiet shouts, whimpers of fear, winces of pain. Kol.

Without a thought to my attire or logic, I got up and headed straight for his room just down the hall. Quickly cracking open the door, I saw the Original at war with his pillow, begging for his feathery foe to have mercy. I however knew how much of reality was bent in the vampire’s broken mind and how easy it truly was for him to see these figments of his own fears.

I crawled in beside him, pulling his fighting arms around me. Immediately, he quiets, only few cries of pain escaping from his lips. I brushed his hair away from his forehead and settled into his chest.

I’ll sneak out at first light.

*Bound By Blood*

“I didn’t expect to find you in my bed this quickly, but who am I to judge.”  Kol stated quite loudly. My eyes snapped open. Shit. I had overslept.

“You were having another bout of nightmares.” I explained, scooting as far away as possible from him on the bed.

“Well, that isn’t an excuse for you not to put on pants Miss Bennett.” He looked me up and down once with an approving nod. I stared down at my own clothes. How could I have been so stupid? Seriously I had slept with Kol Mikaelson in just an oversized t-shirt?

I prayed I had been wearing good underwear, just in case he took a peak. But, I couldn’t technically check right now, since he was eying me like a piece of meat.

“What are we going to do about this Kol?” I sighed, sitting back on the bed and staring at him. He met my eyes uncomfortably, before looking away and nervously running a hand through his insane bed head.

“Marcel has a coven here; at least that’s what I heard. He started gathering them when we were in France, when he was but a human. He was obsessed with magic before he turned, after he wanted it for… other reasons. I think they can help the both of us.”

“What do you know about them?” I asked, curious. I was desperate to get this plague out of me.

“I don’t know!” He shouted with the signature Mikaelson temper, getting up from the bed in a flash. “Bonnie, please stop interrogating me.” He was irritable. And rude. And vulnerable. He didn’t like me seeing him like this. He liked for everyone to see the smooth playboy, the cockiest of the Original Family, not their person who couldn’t sleep at night, who didn’t know how to fix himself.

I walked out of the room without another word, torn between being grateful and angry. Maybe I’m both. That’s the infuriating thing about Kol, you never know whether to kiss him or kill him.

*Bound By Blood*

**Klaus POV**

I could hear Caroline in the bathroom, though it was only on some level of my conscious. The other part of my brain was devoted to the most peculiar dream that I couldn’t seem to escape.

Mikael screamed at me, his typical abusive insults ringing in my head. Worthless. Bastard. Disappointing.

I realized where we were. The woods. The place where a thousand years before he plunged a sword into our chests and sealed our fate.

He held a bloody sword, wildly gesturing around with it. Only then did I realize why I hadn’t ripped his heart out.

Caroline lied in a bloody heap at his feet, a scarlet stab wound in her stomach. My heart dropped into my stomach. The baby. However, she was clutching something, a bundle, which Mikael picked up.

I tried to lunge at him, but he brought the tip of sword to the head of the child. The baby stared at Mikael with interest, before processing the threat and beginning to cry. It ripped at my heart, I was helpless. I tried to help the child, but I was immobile, frozen.

“You don’t deserve this, boy. No one could love you.” And he brought the blade down onto the child’s head. I snapped awake with a shout. It hadn’t been real.

“Are you ok, Klaus?” Caroline yelled from the bathroom before making another vomiting sound.

“It was a dream. Just a dream.” I told myself, throwing off the sheets and swinging out of bed. Mikael was dead. I rummaged through the bedside table drawer, finding a bottle of bourbon, half-full. It’s a bit old, maybe one or two months, but today reality was hitting me hard.

I guess I hadn’t been processing any of the events of the past few days; it was almost as though I had just been going through the motions. Wolf instincts took over, I had been on autopilot.

Now I was awake, and didn’t know what to do. I wasn’t ready, I wasn’t good enough, and I didn’t deserve this.

I was angry at life. I was angry at my failures, my screw ups, and my idiocy. I was angry at myself. I threw the bottle at the wall with a shout of frustration, letting it shatter. Caroline rushed into the room, her face scrunched in confusion.

“Klaus?”

“Go. Away.” I gritted my teeth in frustration, my head in my hands, trying to turn the floodgates of emotion off. I didn’t need this. New Orleans was _my_ town. The Hybrid King. I wasn’t some protective werewolf idiot. I was powerful. I was strong. I was no longer weak.

“Klaus. You are **not** shutting me out.” She said, forcing me to look at her.

“Caroline. Get out.” I said, a bit of gold coming to my eyes. She stared at me for a split second before slapping me across the face. Hard.

“What the hell is wrong with you?!? You are not trying to just turn off your emotions! That is being a coward, Klaus!” She screamed in my face, her fangs coming out to play as well.

“How dare you.” I seethed, angrily meeting her eyes.

“It’s true! That’s all shutting of your humanity is, a defense mechanism! And I’ll be damned if you do this too, you’re no better than Tyler.”

Something in me snapped. That was the reason we were here. Not to party, not to have fun. To find that son of a bitch. I sped out of the room, down the stairs, and out the front door in a haze.

Those wolves, they were dead meat.

*Bound By Blood*

**Caroline POV**

He was a coward.

I wanted to scream, snap his neck, spit in his face, anything for him to just listen to me and _see_ how much of an idiot he was being.

It hadn’t even been me calling him coward that made him leave. He had been taking that. I had compared him to Tyler.

Shit. Tyler.

Tyler. Who was here. Somewhere.

Tyler. Who would be number one on Klaus’s revenge list.

That’s where Klaus was going.

Whenever he was shunning everyone else, something was wrong. And he didn’t know how to express those emotions except in one way: violence.

I sped to the closet, grabbing the first thing I see, a white dress, and threw it on. Running down the stairs, I stopped at Kol’s door. Before I can pound on it, however, it opens. Bonnie rushed out, nearly crashing to me with an annoyed look quickly changing to guilt.

“Woah Care, what’s the rush?” she said, trying to hide that she was so blatantly doing the walk of shame.

“No time.” I told her quickly, bursting into the room to find the brooding Kol.

“What do you need?” He asked irritably, staring at me.

“Klaus and I had a fight. I think he’s going to go after Tyler.” I said shortly. Both of the brooders immediately snapped out of their moods. “Did your brother perchance tell you where they were hiding?”

“Fuck.” Kol spit, reaching for a cell phone and punching numbers into it.

“What was the fight about?” Bonnie asked worriedly.

“Him trying to turn his damn emotions off because he can’t deal with anything right now.”

“Hello, John? Could you please tell me where exactly the wolves were staying? My brother just forgot and we were planning on making a move on them today.” Kol lied skillfully, bringing a finger to his lips, asking for our silence.

“They’re at the Waldorf-Astoria, if they haven’t moved recently.” Masterman told Kol in a sleepy voice, obviously he had just been roused. Kol slammed down the phone, speeding to the closet and throwing on a shirt.

“We’re close.” He said pulling on pants as Bonnie dashed to her room to throw on clothes as well, “About 5 minutes away walking.”

“Why are we walking?” Bonnie complained, voicing my own thoughts as she came out dressed in a pair of jeans and a blouse. I needed to get to Klaus, before he did something reckless, stupid, and permanent.

“Because there’s something magical called traffic, sweetheart.” Kol said as we walked out the front door.

The French Quarter was lovely. Across from the house, there was a small well-manicured park with some statue of a long forgotten war hero. The cobbled streets looked out of place with the shiny new cars rumbling by, the only indication that we weren’t still in the Civil War. All the homes were antebellum, with high gates twined with ivy, like something right out of Gone with the Wind.

Kol walked briskly, looking around for a second to get his bearing, before turning left onto one of the smaller side avenue. Taking several more of these same backstreets, we emerged onto bustling Canal Street.

Bonnie and I smiled at each other while Kol peered around a bit overwhelmed. Canal had always been around; it was almost the landmark of New Orleans. He must have known it in a very different time. What had once been lined with saloons and other marvels of the turn of the century now held glass skyscrapers.

Heading down the avenue, we pushed past men and women dressed for work. A stately white building seemed to be our target as Kol kept staring at it.

“This way.” He muttered, motioning us to follow him across the way.

The foyer was white marble, though I didn’t pay much notice to it. We headed straight to the front desk, where a middle aged brunette woman sat typing on a computer. Kol stepped forward, waiting for her to look up to compel her.

“Tyler Lockwood. What room is he in?” The woman looked confused as she typed in the computer.

“There is no Tyler Lockwood staying here. There’s a joint room however for a Tyler.” She said, peering over her glasses.

“Who?” Kol asked looking dangerously at the clerk, his eyes hinting at its true form, their dark red.

“Room 1366. It’s for a Hayley Caldwell and a Tyler Oaken.” She said, as Kol nearly vamp sped towards the elevators. Bonnie and I jogged behind him. Every minute we wasted could be another minute where Tyler could be dead.

I was surprised I cared this much for Tyler. He _had_ tried to kill me over and over and over again. He had neglected me, had hurt me, yet I didn’t want to see him dead.

No one deserved death.

Of course, the elevators were slow. Kol impatiently paced, while Bonnie checked her phone every other second. I just stared at the numbers, waiting to go up.

When we got an elevator, Kol stared hardly at the door, with his planning expression on his face. Finally, he spoke.

“Stay out of the way. Both of you.” He sharply told us as we exited out onto the 13th floor.

“Why?” Bonnie asked anger in her eyes. We were done playing victims, prey, damsels in distress. Bonnie had power. I was fearless.

We didn’t need to be protected.

Kol merely responded with a sad look, at the both of us.

“Nik might not be able to control himself. I won’t let him do something he regrets.” Then he brught his foot to the door, and smashed it in with a bang.

Oh boy.

*Bound By Blood*

“I would like to know where Katarina is. And you are going to tell me.” Klaus said, almost scarily quiet. He stalked in front of the two wolves. He had a presence about him that wasn’t shared by the two others. Was it the alpha male aura dominated the pack?

Both Hayley and Tyler were bleeding. Her from a claw mark ripping her shirt in half and him from several places. A bite in his arm, his left leg, and a viciously deep claw mark wrapping around his right shoulder and down to his back.

His eyes glinted feral.

“Why would we tell you?” Tyler spat. We still just stood there in the door, the occupants of the room unaware of our presence.

“Because I can kill you or your lady werewolf lover just with a snap of the neck.” Klaus said quite calmly, pulling out a stake from his jacket pocket. Tyler eyed it before grinning all the more malevolently.

“Not today Klaus.” He said, taking something else out of his back pocket. The white oak stake.

Kol and Bonnie gasped while I ran into the room.

“Now where did you get that?” Klaus asked. I could hear his heartbeat, suddenly rapid, beating out of fear.

“Ever heard of someone called Silas? Let’s just say… he can pick your sister’s mind a lot more easily than yours.”

Tyler was working for Silas. Why? All those people who wanted to kill us would just come back. But, the two men were seconds away from killing one another.

“Tyler. Don’t.” I said, walking out of the shadows. Everyone stared at me. I was messing with two beings that could kill me in a flash, each of them not in their right minds.

Klaus stared at me. He was angry, hurt, confused, worried. He needed to learn how to take all these emotions out healthily, not in this way. He could do something he could never take back.

Tyler was pure animal. Rage and hate.

And Hayley the conniving bitch. She smirked at me, planning something.

Yet, I needed the two alphas to calm down, to control themselves, to not do the one thing they could never take back.

“Why not Caroline?” Tyler spat, waving the white oak stake around. Kol and Klaus watch it with all their might, trying to make it disintegrate with just their eyes.

“He’s taken everything from me. My family, my freedom, my girlfriend. This is all I have left. Revenge.”

“He’s not taken everything Tyler.” The slut said from behind me. In a second, it happens.

Hayley comes at me from behind, something in her hand. Wood. My eyes go wide as I feel the stake in my back.

“Klaus.” I choked out, as she started to press it into my back, getting closer and closer to my stomach. Tyler just stared with cold eyes.

“NO!” Klaus shouted; vamp speeding over to the wolf-girl, throwing her off of me with the stake still in my back, though it’s not going any further.

“Don’t touch my family again.” He hissed in her face, before pulling out the stake from my back in a flash and forcing it into her chest. Straight into her heart.

There wasn’t any sound in the room. I was merely a bystander, a wisp watching the terror unfold, not interacting with the scene, but just a watcher. Klaus stood in front of Hayley almost gloating in his victory. Tyler in slow motion speeds toward Klaus, the stake in the air.

I wanted to scream at Klaus to look, to beg him to look. He was not watching, why was he not watching?

I wasn’t processing. Klaus was frozen. Tyler had the one thing that could kill him.

Klaus was going to die.

I sped over to Tyler, snatching the stake from him in a second and pushed it through his stomach.

“Where are your manners?” I hissed as I reach my hands up and snapped his neck. “Didn’t your mother tell you not to stab people in the back?”

I kicked his body away as Klaus turned around stunned.

“Caroline?” He asked, his eyes clearing from his former haze. Kol and Bonnie just stood there, staring at the carnage.

I only then realized the true state of my back. Every breathe hurt. I could feel a bit of my own blood rushing into my lungs. I was slowly suffocating.

“Caroline.” He called, as I cough a stream of blood flying out from my lung and onto the pristine white carpet, already stained with Hayley and Tyler’s life forces. I forced myself to the ground as I kept coughing up blood. He rushed over to me, kneeling down behind me. Biting into his wrist, he forced it down my throat, desperate to heal me before another bout of blood and bile came up.

I felt the blood slide down my throat, some of my panic fled. Though I still feared for the life of my child.

How far had the stake gone? Too far to cut the short life of an unborn child?

My back prickled as I felt the wound start to close, but I didn’t get up. I could feel the tears coming for absolutely no reason.

Damn hormones.

Kol walked over to Hayley, assessing the damage. He kicked the body, just making sure she was indeed dead. Limp. Stone cold dead.

“Well, brother. How do you want to play this one? Suicide or mysterious murder?” He asked in a playful tone, kicking Hayley’s body again. Bonnie smacked him on the head.

“This isn’t funny, Kol.” She hissed. Klaus assessed the situation for a moment, looking up from his intent inspection of me.

“Do whatever you think is best.” He said, shortly before going back to stroking my hair. Silent tears ran down my face as I coughed up the last of the blood remaining in my lungs

I needed to see a doctor as soon as possible. Get an ultrasound, or something to check and make sure that I wasn’t pining for an empty life.

Kol dialed something on his phone, moving side to side like an impatient child as it rang.

“Hello? Ah, yes. I need someone to do damage control in New Orleans.”

“What do you need?” a harshly-northern accent male voice barked into the phone.

“Murder/Injury. Waldorf-Astoria, room 1366. Need you to make the murder look fake and get the temporarily dead guy to the old house.”

“Normal fee?” the man asked cautiously.

“How about I’ll stake you if you don’t do it.” Kol threatened. Bonnie gave him a look.

“Fine. Team there in 20. Get your ass out of there.” He hung up.

“Kol! You can’t just threaten to kill people when they don’t do what you want!” Bonnie exploded the moment Kol hung up.

“On the contrary, it’s the only way to get things done.” Klaus said pulling me to my feet. I wiped my disgusting tears on the back up my hand sucking it up. I didn’t have time for emotions.

Bonnie and I shared an eye roll as Kol and Klaus began to ransack the room. They threw open suitcases, only grabbing papers that looked to be worth any value.

I snapped out of my shock, to focus on getting the technology.

Tyler’s laptop. Check.

Phones. Check.

Flash drives. All 8? Check.

Kol and Klaus somehow found a briefcase and were literally fighting to shove papers in it.

“Do you have everything?” Bonnie asked sassily, still staring at the bodies in a daze, her hand on the handle of the door impatiently jiggling it.

We didn’t like Hayley. Correction, we didn’t give a damn about her. I hated her. Yet, I couldn’t shake the feeling of how wrong I am. I could have easily killed Tyler, if I had aimed right. I hadn’t thought twice about it.

What was I becoming?

“I think so.” Kol said, walking to the door which Bonnie swung open.  I tried to follow Kol, but Klaus stopped me.

“Here” He said, shrugging of his black blazer and helping me into it.

“What’s that for?” I asked confused, but pulling the jacket around me tighter as I emerge into the hallway and headed for the elevators. Klaus gently shut the door behind us.

“You’re wearing white, Caroline. And in case you’ve forgotten, there is a blood stain on your back.” He said, catching up with me, and wrapping a protective arm around my waist.

Kol kept punching the buttons as we waited. Bonnie glared at him. Honestly, he was such a child but he was good for her. We all needed some innocence in our lives. Lately, we had lost our spark, our reason to want to be happy. All of Mystic Falls had. Maybe we needed to get back to happiness.

Walking out onto the street, we didn’t pause. The morning river of rush hour tried to sweep me away, but Klaus just grabbed my hand and pulled me along.

I didn’t see Kol or Bonnie in the mess until we reached a side street about two minutes after them. Bonnie laughed hysterically at something Kol said, while he had a sort of light back in his eyes I only saw when he was with her.

When all the Originals had arrived in Mystic Falls, their eyes had been dead, only graced the occasional emotion of anger or hatred. They were so deep into their own darkness; they could barely function except as darkness’s children.

“Are you two done yet? I don’t want to come home and find Rebekah and Stefan going at it on the coffee table.” Klaus said, tapping his foot.

“Well then, why are we hurrying? Do you honestly want to catch them doing that? I mean our sister is a trollop and we’ve caught her in various escapes over the centuries, but those were purely ‘accidental’ so why hurry and expose our eyes to such an atrocity?” Kol reasoned with a devilish smile.

“Shut up.” Klaus retorted, smacking him in the ear. “Who did you call anyway?” We proceeded down the quiet cobbled lane, lined with similar homes as the one we were presently residing in.

“An old friend.” Kol said simply.

“That explains everything brother. All our friends are old. Come to think of it, do we have any friends?”

“Shut up. I knew him from St. Louis, before New Orleans. Turns out he became a fantastic smuggler, con-man, and all around lying cheat.”

“So how do you have someone’s phone number from the 1900’s?” Bonnie asked, falling in step with Kol.

“Meet up with him by happy chance in Vegas.” Kol left the topic at that. Clearly Vegas wasn’t something he wanted to brag about.

We arrived at the house, moving the ivy a bit to reveal the side gate. I wasn’t sure whether it was due to bad upkeep or merely intentional it was so overgrown, but it added some old southern charm to the home.

I began running a mini to do list in my head. Change, find nearest OBGYN, get a reference from Meredith, and—if I can—go to the doctor. Then I remembered something.

I should be able to hear the heartbeat.

There were too many distractions I realized as I listened, too many other beats that make it nearly impossible to distinguish the child’s slow sporadic beat.

Klaus opened the door cautiously, almost expecting an angry Rebekah to come bursting out scolding him, but the foyer is silent, only broken by the tap of our shoes.

However the kitchen was a nasty surprise.

“Really? Are you kidding me?” Klaus whined at the pair. Honestly, passionate lip-locked on the counter was not the first thing I wanted to see in the morning. At least there were no removed clothes… yet.

“Hello, brother.” She said crisply, slightly moving Stefan out of the way to jump off the counter. “Where were you this morning?”

“Having a tantrum.” I answered for him.

“We managed to prevent any serious damage.” Kol finished before sticking his head into the refrigerator.

“How is a murder preventing ‘serious damage’” Bonnie asked, walking over and pulling Kol’s head out of the icy abyss of the fridge.

“I’m sorry; I didn’t know you cared about the wolf-slut?” He asked, shaking her off.

She tried to protest but he just grinned evilly at her.

“See? Exactly my point.” She smacked him on the head again.

Bonnie rolled her eyes at her and turned to look at me.

“Hey Care, do you need to go to the hospital or something?” Bonnie asked. Rebekah and Stefan stared at me confused.

“Why would Caroline need to go to the hospital?” Stefan asked suspiciously, still analyzing me. I take a deep breath and glared at Bonnie. Now I _had_ to tell them.

“Um…. I was staked…” I began, staring at Klaus for help. Of course, he was averting my gaze, having a staring contest with his shoes.

“So, you healed right?” Rebekah asked, now staring at Klaus too, trying to put the pieces together.

“Yes, it’s just… I have to make sure the baby is ok.” I closed my eyes as I started the sentence, only peeking a bit when I was done. Rebekah and Stefan must be trying to catch flies in their mouths.

“Excuse me?” Rebekah asked, quickly moving her glance between Klaus, my stomach, and I. “Did I hear that right?”

“32 tests and morning sickness don’t lie.” I said, fingering my stomach.

“Ummmm, congratulations?” Stefan broke the silence, while Rebekah started to laugh, noticing how Klaus hadn’t looked up for 3 minutes. He was a bit red even.

“Well, lucky you Nik.” She said sarcastically, grinning maliciously at him before turning to smile at me.

I grinned back her. At least there was someone who could keep Klaus in line on my side.

A cell phone’s ring pierced the air. Everyone’s hands immediately went to their pockets, pulling out their own devices. I dug into my pockets, after pulling out my own non-ringing device, to get Hayley’s and Tyler’s phones.

Tyler’s was ringing. I held it up and everyone stopped moving. Klaus slowly nodded at me to answer it.

“Hello?” I answer.

“Who is this?” a strangely familiar masculine voice asked on the other side.

“Oh, it’s Tyler girlfriend, Caroline.” I lied skillfully. Klaus’s brow furrowed, though I blew him a kiss.

“So… He managed to pull you away from the Original.”

“I’m sorry, who is this?”

“Some know me by the name of Shane… Though he’s dead, I’m just borrowing this form. I prefer the name Silas.”

I nearly gasped, like everyone else around me. How many people had Tyler been working for?

“Can I speak with Tyler?”

“He’s asleep. But, you can tell me.”

“Tell Tyler that our deal is complete. Please tell him thank you for leading me to the Bennett witch’s cousin. She’s dead as are the rest of the witches. The veil is down.”

“What does that mean exactly?” I wanted to puke. The veil was down, all the horrors, all those people who would take delight in killing me and everyone I remotely care about. I didn’t want to meet anyone else’s eyes.

“Every day, someone comes back. In reverse order.” So we have some time. Not much time. But, time.

“And one more thing, Caroline.” Silas said, changing tones. This is a predatory tone that struck fear into my heart. “Tell Klaus that until he brings me the cure, I’m going to send all these enemies after everyone he loves, and let him watch as I kill them.”

I slammed down the phone and met everyone else’s eyes.

Bonnie had unexplainable fear, loss, and guilt, making her eyes look as gold as ever.

Stefan seemed to be almost happy. He had so many people on the other side. But, there was a stunning realization in his green irises. He was realizing what the cure was truly meant for. You could have a family without it. Though, we didn’t know how, there had to be a way. I was living proof of that.

Rebekah’s ice blues were a mix. She was happy, though she was so scared. Eventually she would have to face the mother who possessed her, who forgot her all those centuries ago.

Kol’s hazel eyes were wildly panicked. He didn’t know what to do. Always so smooth and suave, he would have to face all his crimes. As all of had to.

Klaus wasn’t thinking. His piercing azure eyes shone with terror. He had more enemies than any of us put together. And Silas had made a personal vendetta against him.

It didn’t help that he had made such a blatant statement when saving me. I mean “Don’t touch my family again?”

I guess that’s what truly motivated Klaus. Family. He seemed to have an inner instinct that took over whenever he just couldn’t think. I didn’t mind it. I would rather be over protected than on my own.

“What are we going to do?” I whispered. No one answers. No one knows.

*Bound By Blood*

We all sat in silence, internally screaming.

“Stefan, call Damon.” Klaus ordered Stefan to break the silence. Though Stefan stared at him confused, he called him.

“We’re going to see Marcel. Get ready.” He said simply, broodingly stomping upstairs.

“What do you want me to tell him?” Stefan yelled as Klaus proceed further into the depths of the house and Damon muttered a hung over hello into the phone.

“Tell him what the hell is going on Stefan!” Klaus yelled, stomping back into the room. “And tell him if he cares about living to see another day; he’ll come down here right now.” He stomped out of the room with me close behind him. We needed to talk.

Klaus already had the shower running as I entered our bedroom, stripping off the jacket and the bloody dress. I sighed, inspecting my stomach again. Something weird was going on. I shouldn’t be this big, this quickly. Just since this morning, I must have grown at least a quarter of an inch wider.

I huffed and stomped over to join Klaus in the shower. I didn’t have time to wait for him to finish.

“What are we going to do Klaus?” I nearly cried wrapping my arms around him and letting the spray soak us both. He stiffened at the sudden contact, but gradually relaxed into it, hesitantly wrapping his arms around me.

“We fight.” He said simply, holding me closer into him and letting me cry into him. I wipe my tears on his chest, remembering our fight earlier. I still had to deal with that. Pulling away from him, I stare directly into his eyes.

“You can’t just turn your emotions off, ok? Look at what happened when you did.” He stares at me apologetically.

“Caroline, I’m sorry…” He tries to say, though I’m on a roll.

“Look I know you’re scared and fear and love and family is foreign to you, but you can’t push me away. I love you. So stop trying to convince yourself you’re not worth it. Because you’re worth everything to us.” His guarded look, the one he woke up on the wrong side of the bed with evaporates. He’s stunned, like a deer in the headlights, his face completely and utterly open and unguarded.

“Why did you say us?” He asked, wrapping his arms around me again and pulling me into his chest. I listen hard for a second and smile.

“Listen.” I tell him, bringing his hand to my stomach.

“What am I supposed to be-?” He says, before saying a small “oh” as he hears the steady third heartbeat in the shower. His eyes widen in wonder and relief.

“You’re not going to turn off your emotions. Do you really want to miss all this?”

*Bound By Blood*

With my hair wrapped in a towel, I scavenged through my closet looking for something to wear. Klaus said it was cocktail attire, but we were going during the day, so something a bit brighter would be best.

As I laid a couple of dresses down, Rebekah charged into the room with a pile of dresses, already talking a mile a minute.

“Caroline, which do you like better?” She asked, holding two body-cons dresses, one in a hideous orange and the other in a pretty florescent pink.

“Defiantly the pink.” I decided, tapping the dress with my fingers. “For me?” I asked, gesturing toward the dozen dresses laid out on the black chaise in the center of the closet.

She inspected each of them, taking the material in her fingers, holding them up to my face, some just throwing out altogether.

“This one.” She finally said, handing me a strapless bronze dress with an intricate crisscross patterning at the waist, falling into a series of tight pleats. She then went through my jackets, throwing me a simple black blazer to go with it. Before she left with her armada of fashion, she looked back at me.

“Caroline, could I ask you a question?” There was excitement in her eyes, hope that one day she might have a ‘family of her own,’ the whole reason she wanted the cure.

“Of course.”

“I was wondering if you would let me help with the baby’s things. Like the name and the nursery and shopping…”

I didn’t give her an answer; I merely gave her a hug. She had wanted family, companionship, a friend, for a thousand years. It was sadly Shakespearian now, at the end of the world, she was finally getting what she had longed for since she had turned.

She smiled at me before slipping out the door and I rushed to get ready. After throwing on some make-up and spending an exurbanite amount of time on my eye make-up alone, I quickly dressed and perused through my heels, settling for a pair of plain black ones.

Klaus entered the closet, in short, a wreck.  He was still in jeans as I put on a pair of hammered gold studs and my bracelet. I always had to wear it for some reason, maybe it was because it was the first gift anyone gave to me or a reminder of why I didn’t die that night, I enjoyed wearing it.

“Klaus, which necklace should I wear?” I asked, going through his expanse collection of women’s jewelry he had amassed over the centuries.

“The pearls” He answered, not even looking up from his own preparations. The pearls gleamed with an inner light with a large yellow diamond with pearls shone from it. I hesitantly put it on, careful not to break the precious gems, then I turned around with a sweep of my arms as voila!

Klaus didn’t notice too busy assessing ties.

“You can’t do anything by yourself, you know that right?” I said walking over to him, and selecting a tie for him, bronze, matching my dress.

“I can do things by myself, they just take longer.” He argued, pouting a bit as I tie the tie. Finishing, I plant a kiss on his cheek and grab my clutch, walking out the door with him trailing behind me.

Time to figure out what the hell is going on.

*Bound By Blood*

The car was silent as we sat in traffic. I was just waiting for an argument to break out, but today everyone waxed on worried and philosophical.

Bonnie looked amazing. Wearing a pale green dress covered in transparent sequins, it was short, letting her legs go on for miles.

And she was eye fucking Kol again.

Rebekah looked dangerously sweet in pink. Paired with pink heels, she looked more like Vampire Barbie than I did as of late.

Stefan must have poured an entire bottle of hair gel onto his hair, as usual. I realized I sort of missed Damon. I mean he would always have some snarky comment about everything to make us laugh or sometimes make us want to snap his neck.

“What did Damon say Stefan?” I asked, turning around.

“He was getting into the car as we spoke. I think he’s going to stop in Mystic Falls on the way, though.”

“Why would he do that?” Klaus asked as the light changes to green.

“Something about there’s a lot of weapons in Mystic Falls, he’d rather not let old enemies get to. And I think he’s signing over the lease of Boarding House to Matt… Just for safe keeping.”

“How’s the doppelganger? Still trying to live up to Katarina?”

“Damon has a theory about that. He thinks that when Jeremy comes back, she’ll have a reason to turn it back on again.”

“So he hasn’t told her about the veil dropping.” Klaus reasoned, turning onto Canal.

“Why would he? I didn’t tell him about the other stuff, though. Do you two even know how it happened?”

“That seems to be the question of the millennium. But, I hope one of the witches from Marcel’s coven can reason out what the hell is going on.”

“He honestly has a coven? Like, _has_ them?” We were nearing the waterfront, as the building grew older, more antique.

“No, he merely hosts them. No one can own witches.” Kol piped in, winking at Bonnie. She blushed. Klaus turned sharply in front of a building that, though it was in impeccable condition, looked to be 300 years old.

“We’re here.” He said simply, pulling up to the valet and stepping out of the vehicle and handing a waiting attendant his keys. Another helped me out, while Klaus sped around to offer me his arm.

The name of the place is painting on the second level of the building, “Le Voleur.” What I gathered from my limited high school French, it meant “The Rogue.” The sign beside the door however was in English.

“Leave Snacks at the entrance. No blood on the floor.”

This was most certainly a vampire’s haven.

 


	23. Magic

Bound By Blood

**Chapter XXIII: Magic**

_Think'st thou I saw thy beauteous eyes,_

_Suffus'd in tears, implore to stay;_

_And heard unmov'd thy plenteous sighs,_

_Which said far more than words can say?_

_Though keen the grief thy tears exprest,_

_When love and hope lay both o'erthrown;_

_Yet still, my girl, this bleeding breast_

_Throbb'd, with deep sorrow, as thine own._

_But, when our cheeks with anguish glow'd,_

_When thy sweet lips were join'd to mine;_

_The tears that from my eyelids flow'd_

_Were lost in those which fell from thine._

_Thou could'st not feel my burning cheek,_

_Thy gushing tears had quench'd its flame,_

_And, as thy tongue essay'd to speak,_

_In sighs alone it breath'd my name._

_And yet, my girl, we weep in vain,_

_In vain our fate in sighs deplore;_

_Remembrance only can remain,_

_But that, will make us weep the more._

_Again, thou best belov'd, adieu!_

_Ah! if thou canst, o'ercome regret,_

_Nor let thy mind past joys review,_

_Our only hope is, to forget!_

_-Lord Byron, To Caroline_

**Caroline POV**

The interior was nothing like the exterior. It looked like an old saloon, crossed with a modern club.

There were three levels, the lowest probably a converted basement, now a dance floor. There was a circle cut out in the second and third level, making a terrace that looked down on the dance floor.

Though the place was deserted, there was a pair of bouncers with sunglasses as we immediately walked in.

“Who are you?” the one on the left asked, putting an arm to stop Klaus. He gives him a “bitch please” look and straightens up.

“I need to see Marcel.”

“No one sees the boss, unless he says so.” The other man said aggressively. I saw a shadowy figure making his way across the way, from the bar on the other side of the room.

“Its fine, Anton. He’s an old friend.” The shadowy figure said, stepping out of the shadows. He was young, with skin about the same shade as Bonnie’s and a diamond earring in his left ear. He wore an easy smile and eluded power.

“Are you sure Sir? All of them?” said the one on the left, still eying us suspiciously.

“It is fine. Leave.” the dark skinned man said warningly to the guards, his eyes hinting at red. They immediately went into a side door.

“What brings you to the Big Easy, Klaus? Long time no see.” The man said laughing a bit as he gives Klaus a “man-hug.”

I was surprised that he didn’t recoil or snap the man’s neck. Klaus instead smiled easily and returned the hug.

“You have your coven, Marcel?” Klaus asked seriously as Marcel surveyed the group.

“Of course. Since when did you two get undaggered?” He waved Klaus’s question off, instead focusing on Kol and Rebekah.

“Rebekah or me, Marcel? Rebekah’s been undaggered off and on over the past three years; you know how Nik loves her best, while I just broke out of my coffin three months ago. Times sure have changed.” Kol answered, walking straight for the bar with Bonnie trailing after him. He hopped behind it, searching for something, and pulled out a bottle. “You still have all my grimories?” Kol opened the bottle and took a drink straight from it, earning a smack from Bonnie causing him to spit out his swig of bourbon.

“Somewhere in this hellhole.” Marcel answered, his gaze moving to Bonnie, who’s still glaring at Kol. “And who might you be? Not many people have the guts to hit an Original…”

“Bonnie Bennett, witch.” She answered shortly, before smacking Kol on the head again as he tried to drink from the bottle. “Get a glass for god’s sake Kol, were you raised by wolves?”

“A witch and a Viking, not wolves, sweetheart.” Kol said, getting a glass, “Just because my mother had an affair with one doesn’t mean we were raised by them.”

“So you’re just a witch, not a lover.” Marcel asked, coming over to the bar with Klaus. I trailed behind him, though I couldn’t drink. Stupid pregnancy.

“No that’s Caroline thing.” Bonnie said pointing at me as I sat down next to Klaus, after sharing a really weird look with Kol. I mean it was only a matter of time before eye fucking became real fucking.

I blush as he stared at me, studying  me.

“Never thought you would have what it took to fall in love Klaus.” He finally said, noticing our entwined hands.

“How does this pertain to the problem Marcel?” Klaus said, looking dangerously at the relaxed man, but for some strange reason, he didn’t cringe under Klaus’s threatening gaze.

“Well until you tell me what the problem is then I’ll have to occupy the time with small talk. So, what do need Klaus.” Marcel retorted sassily. He didn’t fear Klaus, like everyone else. He sort of reminded me of Ripper Stefan, minus the Ripper part of course. It was the air of confidence that came from being a dangerous man.

“Ever heard of Silas?” Kol started the pitch.

“My witches have to an extent. All I know is he’s supposed to stay in whatever rotted hole he’s been kept in for the past two millennia.” Marcel said, swinging his barstool around to face us with this pointer fingers pressed to his lips in a pensive state.

“Anyways, some idiots wanted the cure to vampirism more than they cared about the fate of the world. So blah, blah, blah, skipping all those details, Silas is awake and has brought down the veil.” Kol said nonchalantly, draining his glass in one try.

“WHAT?” Marcel yelled, getting up rapidly.

“The veil is down. Supernaturals are coming back. One a day. We have to put it back together before people come back… who can do lasting damage. Who can’t be killed.” Klaus said, standing up as well.

Marcel unleashes a string of explicit words as he punched a series of numbers into his phone.

“He took that rather well, don’t you think?” Rebekah said, sitting down next to me and reaching across the bar to grab a bottle of tequila and a pair of shot glasses.

“Sophie?” Marcel nearly yelled into the phone. “Get down to the club, bring everyone. I don’t care if it’s morning; get your ass down here!”

“That’s no way to talk to a lady.” A lightly accented feminine voice echoed from the opposite end of the phone.

“Well I don’t have time for manners, Soph. Just get down here.” He said, slamming the phone down.

“How many witches do you have?” Kol asked, as the angry man went around the counter and pulled out a bottle of wine.

“Well six right now, I’ve been looking for more.” Marcel said, pouring a couple of glasses of the Merlot and eying Bonnie. “You said you’re a Bennett, right?”

“The one of the last, well the only two who can practice,” Bonnie answered, accepting a glass of the wine from the vampire.

“I knew Sheila. She didn’t really fit the qualifications of my witches, but she had a gift all her own.” Marcel reminisced.

“You knew my grandmother? And what do you mean by qualifications?” Bonne asked, her eyebrows crinkling. Sheila had been Bonnie’s ultimate role model.

“Everyone in the witch community knows everyone.” He laughed. “And the qualifications, I think my witches can answer that.”

A woman walked into the building through the same doors which we came through. She wore a simple white dress making her olive skin glow and radiated magic. Bangles decorated her arms, while a single pendent hung from her neck, carved with strange symbols.

“Marcel, this better be worth it.” She said in a European accent I couldn’t place. Mediterranean?

“Sophie. The veil is down.”

“HOW? And who are these people Marcel?” the witch yelled, stomping over to the vampire.

“The Original Family. And friends.”

“Our friends resurrected Silas. We’re trying to put him back down.” Bonnie said, getting up and walking over to the other witch.

“And who might you be, little witch?” Sophie said, eying Bonnie suspiciously.

“Bonnie Bennett.” Bonnie answered, staring back at the unknown witch with equal force. At the mention of her last name, the witch’s eyes softened.

“Oh, are you Abby’s daughter?” she asked, taking Bonnie’s hands in hers. Bonnie stared at her more confused than ever.

“You know my mother?”

“Of course, she blew through here just a few weeks ago looking for some help with expression….” Sophie said before trailing off.

“What do you know about expression?” Bonnie asked, pulling her hand away.

“I used to practice it, back in the Twenties.” Sophie explained. But, that couldn’t be true. She looked so young, in her early twenties at least. Witches died just like normal humans.

“How are you this young then?” Bonnie asked.

“I got my expression under control. But, the magic had to go somewhere. I didn’t realize until the Forties I wasn’t aging. But, it worked out rather well. I found other witches like me. You do practice expression, don’t you?” Bonnie nodded.

Wait, so Bonnie was basically immortal? Her magic had been getting better. She was more in control than she had been, more herself.

“I’ve lived a thousand years, and _never_ have I heard of an immortal witch.” Kol said, challenging her.

“We keep ourselves well hidden.” Sophie said with just as much force. “But, let’s not talk out in the open. God knows, Marcel doesn’t screen the clientele as well as he should.” She walked around to the back of the bar and pulled open one of its dark oak panels, to reveal a staircase.

Wordlessly, Klaus offered me his hand, helping me up the narrow flight that creaked and whined as we went.

“Could it kill you modernize, Marcel? This staircase has been here since the 19th century.” Klaus complained as we reached the top deck. On level with us, an antique diamond chandelier hung, illuminating the room. Marcel opened another oak panel, to reveal a room furnished with modern furniture and abstract art decorating the walls. After we enter, Sophie slid the door shut.

“We can talk freely in here; all the rooms are spelled with sage.” She stated before joining Marcel on a couch.

“Where are your comrades? I’d rather not say this twice.” Klaus said, leading me over to one of the couches, and literally sitting me down. He was taking this overprotective stuff to a whole new level. I’d be surprised if I would be allowed to move in the final months.

“They are coming. Most don’t live as close as I do. In the meantime, hybrid, how about you introduce us to your friends?” Sophie said, clearly not afraid of Klaus. She must have some serious power. Klaus looked around the room, hesitant to start. He obviously wanted to avoid the matter of me in front of his old protégé.

“Well, Marcel must have told you about us. That’s my brother Kol, over there is my sister, Rebekah.” Klaus said, pointing at the respective siblings.

“What of the other one? Elijah?” the witch asked.

“He’s out of the country, dealing with a problem.” Kol answered, smirking.

“And the others?”

“Stefan Salvatore.” Stefan said, holding out his hand to the witch. She looked at him incredulously.

“The Ripper of Monterrey?” she asked, staring at him. I forgot that Stefan had about as much infamy in American supernatural circles as the Originals.

Stefan cleared his throat uncomfortably. He had been trying to shed that title for decades, only to have it come back to haunt him with a vengeance.

“Reformed Ripper.” He corrected, looking uncomfortably at the ground.

“And who are you? You’re not a human.” The witch said, turning to me.

“I’m a vampire. Caroline Forbes.” I said, introducing myself and shaking the hand of the witch. She stared at me, more specifically my stomach, though she doesn’t say anything. Did she have almost a sixth sense tuned for this sort of thing? She didn’t make a statement about me; as much as I’m sure she wanted to.

A knock on the door interrupted her scrutiny of me. Marcel got up, cracking the door slightly, then his face broke into a smile and opened the door wide to allowed an elderly woman to totter into the room.

She had once been lovely, regal even. She wore a maxi dress in an African print, and leaned on a staff covered in bead, trinkets, and bone? Gems and gold set off her lined ebony skin.

“Why did you call this meeting, Sophie?” the woman asked in a melodic voice with a slight African cultured accent.

“Silas is awoken, Kezi.” Sophie stated, staring hard at the older witch. Kol’s eyes widened, recognizing the name.

“Kezi?” Kol said, examining the woman’s face. “Is that you?”

“Kol?” the woman asked staring at him. “Long time, no see, so sad it had to come with the Apocalypse.”

“You’re even more ancient than I remember you.” Kol said bluntly, rewarded with a smack on the head from Bonnie. The crone merely laughed, clearly used to the Original’s rudeness.

“Where are the others?” she asked Sophie, returning to her serious manner.

“Avani is still in India. The rest should be over soon.” Sophie answered.

“How have you gained any since I last saw you?” Klaus asked Marcel.

“Still holding at six. We’ve been at that number for a couple of decades.” Marcel said, pulling open a cabinet built into the paneling. The room, I realized, had no windows, and had a strange scent about it.

A knock on the door sounded again, this time Sophie rushed over to fling open the door.

Standing there had to be the most exotic trio I had ever seen.

The first woman didn’t look like she belonged in this world, or this time period. She looked like that woman from Lord of the Rings, Galadriel? Anyway, her white-blonde hair stretched to her waist, caught in a black metal circlet. Her skin was like snow off set by the deep navy of her full length dress and her grey eyes were so light, they looked as though they had no color. She had a sort of darkness about her, an aura of terror lurking around her very presence. When she met my eyes, I felt as though I was staring at my greatest fears.

The second was tiny. I mean smaller than even Bonnie, probably not even four feet tall. She had that look of a delicate Asian flower you didn’t want to touch. She had miniscule feet, perfectly carved features, as if out of white stone, and was dressed all in gold. Her perfectly straight hair even had a couple of gold streaks in it, as well as the metallic flecks in her eyes. But, she had a fire about her, making up for her delicacy. Something lurked beneath her small form, something bestial, dangerous, and foreign.

The third was a true Latin beauty. She had an easy smile with perfect teeth and dark wavy hair. Her bronze tan radiated warmth, something I could sense about her personality as well. She wore small bronze earrings and oddly enough almost half of her perfect hair was taken up by feathers. These weren’t the cheap multi-colored feathers that you would see on every twelve year old girl in the US. These looked like they had been plucked straight off the bird and woven into her tasseled curls.

Sophie greeted them one by one, addressing the white witch as Vali, the gold as Yin, and the feathered as Danielle.

The full coven sat down regarding us as though we were specimens. No one spoke.

The Chinese girl, Yin, was looking at me oddly. Seriously? Was every single witch I met inherently known that I had an undead baby in my belly?

Kol broke the silence in his usual sarcastic snarky manner.

“The veil is down if anyone cares, so if we are going to have a staring contest all day, then let’s just let Silas raise the dead.”

The Latin witch, Danielle, gasped while the others who didn’t already know didn’t even flinch. Their eyes merely changed a bit, hardening into cold resolve.

“How?” asked the white witch. Her voice had a resounding air, whimsical, if she hadn’t been dead serious, with an accent matching her Scandinavian looks.

“Some of their friends thought that they wouldn’t have to awaken Silas to get The Cure.” Sophie said sarcastically.

The witches glared daggers at us, or to be more accurate, stakes.

“Well we can’t go back and fix all this, so might as well live in the present.” Klaus said, trying to pull his adorably charming act that rarely worked.

“Well what do you want us to do, vampire? Wave our magic wands and make it all better?” Danielle said in a Sofia Vergara rendition that I could barely understand.

“Do witches even have magic wands?” Stefan asked, idiotically. Every witch in the room, including Bonnie, glowered at him.

“We need to bring the veil back up. Fast.” Bonnie said to the coven, staring at them, with the green and gold flecks in her eyes.

“Do you think we know how to bring back the veil? This isn’t something you can’t just whip out of Emily Bennett’s grimorie, child.” Kezi said, staring at Bonnie with a tender look that reminded me so much of Grams, my heart hurt.

“I know that, but we **have** to figure this out. Aren’t you guys immortal? Wise beyond your years? The best?” Bonnie replied, sort of teasing them a bit with their own reputation.

“Don’t test us, little Bennett.” Warned Vali, her eyes went dangerously white.

“We need to confer with the spirits.” Yin said her first words of the evening. Her words rang clear and light, like a tiny bell.

“Should we leave?” Marcel asked formally, getting up from his lounged place on a sofa.

Sophie inclined her head once in a nod, and the undead of the room got up and started to walk out. Bonnie shifted in her seat uncomfortably.

I almost walked out the door, glancing once at Bonnie before I am stopped.

“Wait” commanded Kezi. Klaus and I paused at the door. “You. The blonde girl, stay.”

I gave one long glance at Klaus, reassuring him I was fine, before we parted ways. Him to the bar and me back into the depths of the room.

“Yes?” I asked sitting back onto a couch next to Bonnie as Klaus softly shut the door.

“How?” questions Kezi quietly, from her perch.

“How what?” Danielle asked, confused. Interesting. So only some witches could tell, not all.

“She’s a vampire. Yet, she carries another undead life inside of her.” The Chinese girl stated almost silently, staring intrigued at me.

“A life—does that mean?” Vali asked, suddenly staring very wide-eyed at my stomach.

“Yes. For god’s sake stop staring at me like I’m a freak! I’m not abnormal or anything.” I shouted, crossing my arms over my stomach, blocking it from the witches’ curious peering.

“Ummm, Caroline, that’s sort of not supposed to happen. It’s technically impossible. So technically you are abnormal.” Bonnie stated, I glared at her.

“Child.” Kezi said, taking my hand in her wrinkled one. She closed her eyes for a second, just holding my hand.

It was awkward. Everyone in the room was staring at me. Anticipating something, anything.

The witch released my hand with a gasp, as though she had been inside my head.

“How many times have you blood shared?” Kezi asked sharply, her eyes piercing into me.

Confused I responded.

“Ummm… I don’t know. Why does it matter?”

Ok, so first: Saving me from his own bite.

Second: Tyler’s bite.

Third: that time in the shower a couple of days after…

And this morning, the fourth time, to heal from the stake plunged into my spine.

They had been talking to me as I counted, though I hadn’t been listening.

“Four.” I interrupted and again they stared at me.

“And you’ve been pregnant three weeks, roughly?” she pressed further. I counted the days and weeks.

“I think so…”

“And when did you share blood the first two times?” she inquired, almost scientific now.

“Within a couple of hours of each other. Over a span of two days.” It had been a hell of a day. I had been bitten, had a heart wrenching realization about Klaus, forced myself to choose between the two, kissed Klaus, been attacked by Tyler, and nearly had sex in front of his resurrected brother.

Typical day in the life of Caroline Forbes, vampire.

“Ah. I see.” Kezi said, relaxing on the couch and peering at me with owl eyes.

“Well I don’t, so please explain.” I hated being the last person to know things.

“You and the Hybrid are mates. Except it’s not truly that, as the both of you are undead. It’s different, new; though quite similar to the thing many call a Sire Bond.”

She continued as the others of the coven began to catch on, the light of understanding illuminating their eyes. However I was more confused than ever.

“You two shared blood, then consummated the relation, did you not?” She asked. I blushed though nodded. Where was this going?

“These combined in near tandem, bound the two of you together. But, it wasn’t just that. Between the two of you, there is true passion, caring, love. Most Vampires don’t feel that. Blood ties life together so much stronger than silly rings don’t you agree?” She seemed amused making a joke, I was not. There was seriously all that between me and Klaus? I didn’t really believe in true love, as much as I wanted to. Though, it certainly shouldn’t have happen between these two dysfunctional souls.

“What does this have to do with my baby?” I snapped peevishly.

“His blood. Due to his nature, his blood can heal; it accelerated the growth of the child.”

So I **was** farther along than I thought? At least the baby was safe. Klaus was full of surprises.

“By how much?” I suddenly felt fearful. Had it been that quick? Was this some sort of shitty Twilight curse? I so did not do pallid depressed damsel.

“Only a full moon. So two months. Don’t worry; you aren’t going to be pushing out a child this quickly. There’s still time.”

Time. What a fragile curious thing. I was in a trance almost, lost in my own thoughts, as the witches dismissed me, while they convened with the spirits.

Time. Whenever you thought you had it, you didn’t. Whenever you wanted it to run fast, it moved like honey. Whenever you wanted it to stop, it raced by.

Time. I had less than I thought. This place was lovely, slowly crowding with people, more of my fellow undead no doubt, but I needed to find Klaus. ASAP.

Stumbling through the sea of people, I found him at a table with Kol, nearing the edge of the balcony. The both of them regarded the door with intrigue, making comments to each other as they went. Rebekah and Stefan were nowhere to be seen.

I nearly fell into his lap, wrapping my arms around his neck as I went. He stared at me, surprised.

“What’s gotten you all shaken up?” Kol asked, eying the door that I had just emerged from. Bonnie was still in there. I guessed Kol had finally learned how to be a gentleman and had waited for her.

“I’ll tell you later.” I muttered into his neck.

“Caroline… We are sort of in public, would you mind…” Klaus started, trying to untangle my limbs from around him. I realized where we are. Here isn’t safe. As Sophie said, Marcel didn’t screen his clientele well. There could be assassins, enemies, just steps away from us.

We couldn’t be weak here.

I detached myself from my broken position in Klaus’s arms, and moved over to a chair in between the two Originals, and regarded the view.

We’re dead center, almost like a throne, surveying the kingdom. The dark mahogany table was circled with a couple of elegantly carved chairs. The head, where Klaus sat, was a wooden throne, topped with elegantly carved posts and covered with a dark purple that reminded me of the last moments of evening.

The carving depicted scenes of death, of destruction, of war, and of loss. They were beautifully terrible.

Kol’s throne was slightly smaller than Klaus’s though no less elaborate. It had the same sort carving, though his were a different sort of terrible. Scenes of magic, used as a weapon and scenes from battlegrounds, of the aftermath of the violence displayed on Klaus’s seat.

There was another throne next to Klaus’s. It was so much different than the others. The carvings were lovely, of nature, of the happy moments of history. Peace. Covered in gold, there was some sort of lettering elegantly carved into the back of it. I ran my hand across it.

“What’s this?” I asked Klaus, turning back to him as I sat. He looked over at me before his face broke into a smile.

“When I left, the first time, I had an idea I might come back with someone… So I prepared accordingly.”

He was messing with me. Again.

“What does it say then? And what language is this even?” It didn’t look like anything I could recognize. It wasn’t Asian, it didn’t look right.

“Ancient Norse. Our native language, though certain people have forgotten it over the years.” He said looking pointedly at Kol, who dropped his head guiltily.

“Caroline.” He said, running his hand over the carving as well.

“That’s my name?” I asked, our hands touching ever so briefly. I smiled up at him, before Kol interrupted it.

“Alright, Mr. and Mrs. Mikaelson, knock it off.” He said playfully. I rolled my eyes while Klaus actually blushed. He blushed.

“Nik, do you want a drink because I just compelled… Are you blushing?” Rebekah blurted, walking over to us with Stefan in tow with an arm load of alcohol.

“Am not.” Klaus quickly replied, pouting once again like a child.

“Grow up, you _so_ are.” I teased, pushing him a bit to the side.

“I believe I would like that drink now Bekah.”

“Get it yourself.” She said, biting the straw of her cosmos and staining it with her scarlet lipstick.

“Fine. Caroline, you want anything?” Are you kidding me? I gave him my best “are you fucking kidding me” look while Rebekah silently questioned if he was insane. With a huff, he stomped off for the bar.

“That’s new… Submission.” Kol remarked as he watched his brother’s retreating back.

“Kol, stop being an ass.” Rebekah said, putting Kol in his stunned place. Someone’s phone began to ring at the table, not any normal ringtone.

Psycho Killer was blaring out of Stefan’s cell phone.

He blushed hastily picking it up.

“What Damon?” Stefan snapped into the phone. Oddly appropriate ring tone, not just for Damon, but for probably half the table, maybe all.

“Baby brother. Where are you?” Damon’s asinine condescending tone rung from the cellular device. Stefan rolled his eyes at the nickname.

“A vampire club, why?”

“They have one of those in New Orleans? Anyway, ‘Lena and I have just crossed the damn border into Louisiana. We’ll be in the city in about two hours.”

“How many speed limits have you broken Damon?” Stefan asked exasperated.

“Every single one.” He answered, oddly pleased with himself. “Original Evil said it was life and death. And from what you told me, we are in a shit load of trouble.”

Klaus returned to the table, holding a glass and a full bottle of bourbon. Kol tried to reach for it, but one look from Klaus brought his hand away, clearly saying to get his own.

“How is Elena? Does she know what’s going on?”

“Of course not, I’m not stupid.” Stefan started to say something, probably confirming Damon’s stupidity, but Damon cut him off.

“Don’t comment on that. I think she knows that there’s something big going on.”

“I have to go, call me when you’re close.” Stefan said hastily into the phone, as Bonnie wearily walked out of the spelled room, rocking on her feet. Kol instantly set down his bottle of tequila, rushing over to her, pushing through the mass of inebriated bodies.

She looked completely and utterly drained though pleased with herself as Kol got closer to her. She searched the crowd as the Original came up to her, speaking to her in an urgent looking tone. She nodded at him, though her eyes seemed to want to resist for a second and he picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder. I could hear her squealing.

“Kol! Put. Me. Down.” Bonnie giggled, hitting him in the back.

“You have a better idea sweetheart? You can’t walk in a straight line and you are not fainting on my watch.” Kol responded, laughing with her as he carried her up the stairs leading to the Originals court.

“I can to walk in a straight line!” She protested as Kol set her down in a chair next to his, though she had to clutch the arm rest for a second to get her bearings.

“What happened after I left?” I asked her leaning forward to place my clasp hands on the table.

“Talked to the spirits, what else.” She responded sassily, raising her left eyebrow at me as she answered, questioning if I had told anyone else what had happened. I responded with an eye roll.

“What exactly happened Bonnie?” Stefan asked, leaning forward as well.

“The spirits are, to say the least, enraged. They… they want to induct me into the Coven. They said it would amplify my magic and that they… they _needed_ it.” She looked positively shaken, a bit haunted even. She leaned into the table too, running her hands through her hair with her elbows on the table, the picture of worry.

“So… What does that mean?” Kol asked, placing a cautious hand on her back. She tensed up for a second before relaxing.

“It means… Basically the more I practice the normal kind of magic, through the spirits, the expression going to have to go somewhere else. So, I guess you guys are going to have to put up with me for a while longer…” She said the last part jokingly, though it wasn’t that funny. She was immortal, like us. Cursed and blessed at the same time to roam the Earth forever.

“What are you going to do about the veil?” Klaus asked, putting his pointer fingers to his mouth in thought.

“We’re not sure yet, but they said something weird.” She was eye sexing Kol again. He was rubbing her back this whole time staring at nothing but her face and she had been side glancing at him for the whole conversation.

“What sweetheart?” Kol asked and I nearly vomited. Seriously? This sounds like foreplay. Fucking public foreplay. **In front of their friends and family.** Not cool.

“They said I already have a way to restore the veil, yet I haven’t unlocked it yet. Whatever the hell that means…” She wasn’t telling the whole truth. There was more to it. Something to do with Kol, she wasn’t eye sexing him like before; there was real worry in her eyes, real fear.

“I think we should leave.” Rebekah said, staring at the doors. Our heads swiveled around to stare at the door with her. A group of people were scanning the place. They stood like people on edge. I didn’t know why, but I recognized them. In a split second however it clicked. They had been on Will’s contact list.

Assassins.

Klaus was immediately pulling me up, leading me into the crowd, back towards the place at the bar where Marcel was chatting with some sultry red head. Klaus jerked him away by his collar and snarled into his face.

“Assassins just walked into _your_ club. I suggest you either terminate them right here and now, or give me the key to the back door.” He threatened, his eyes going pure gold.

Marcel protested for a second, stammering, though as Klaus’s fangs begin to poke out he began to dig through his pockets. The rest of our little group followed behind us, Stefan and Rebekah anxiously eyed the door every few seconds.

Marcel slammed a small intricately carved silver key into Klaus’s palm and he vampire sped away, heading straight back to his “throne” with the rest of us trailing after. He slammed the key into the back panel of his chair, into the center of the carvings. I heard the creaking of gears, rusty, from disuse coming from the wood paneling behind it.

Klaus checked once over his shoulder making sure no one was watching. The crowd was too thick and too drunk to care. He pushed the panel open to reveal a set of stairs leading down, down, down to an end I couldn’t see in the dark depths of the building.

“Come on.” Klaus said gruffly, taking my hand and pulling me into the passage way. It smelled like a cellar, rotting and earthy. We waited on the landing, as the rest came through the panel. Kol and Bonnie first, then Stefan and Rebekah. They immediately start to head down the stairs while Klaus poked his head out one last time before snatching the key from his abandoned throne and slowly shutting the panel with a click and whirring of cogs.

“Where are we going?” I asked, as he gripped my hand and lead me down the spiraling metal stairs. I could see the glow of people’s cell phone ahead, but otherwise everyone was silent.

“Out.” He answered shortly, pulling out his own phone and dialing Marcel on it.

“I need you to have the valet pull around our car.” He harshly ordered into the phone and not even waiting for a response, hung up.

“Seriously, Marcel couldn’t modernize this dump?” Kol said, further ahead.

“You’ve had this here for a while?” Bonnie’s voice echoed through the tower-tunnel, whatever.

“We had it built in. Always handy to have an escape route from Mikael.” Rebekah said a bit further ahead.

“Where else did you guys have these?” I asked, nearly slipping on one of the slippery steps, but Klaus caught me.

“Everywhere. Chicago, New York, Paris, London, Moscow, Berlin. Old habits die hard.” Klaus explained, tugging me further down. The last step came suddenly, and I dropped down with a thump, soon followed by Klaus. The rest had waited for us.

I took in our surrounding as we walked along the tunnel. It was perfectly circular, done in brick, and barely my height, looking positively ancient and unused. Thinking I heard something scurry in the darkness, I gripped Klaus’s hand tighter as we walked.

“How much farther?” Rebekah complained, after about five minutes of silence trekking through the passageway.

“We’re here.” Kol said shortly after as the tunnel came to an abrupt stop. A brick wall sprang out of the shadows in front of us. I peered around looking for some sort of door. Finding none, I turned my attention to the ceiling where Kol was reaching up to press a slightly discolored brick. Once again I heard the whirr of machinery as a seemingly permanent section of brick opened up, spilling out blinding light.

I squinted into the sudden brightness, as Klaus jumped up with vampire speed catching the top of the trapdoor and pulled himself up.

One by one we did the same, even Bonnie, though she had “assistance” from Kol.

We were in a house. An old one, by the look of it, though not abandoned. It was well kept, with a fire roaring in the hearth. However, we paid little attention to it, already heading out the door as soon as the last people had exited the tunnel and pulled the door closed behind them.

“Where are we?” I asked, emerging from the door behind Klaus. We were on a quiet residential street like ours, cobbled, and with our black SUV parked in front of it, as though it magically appeared.

“Marcel’s” Rebekah explained as we stepped into the car, back in our original positions in the car. Klaus floored it, looking over his shoulder constantly as he drove through the old back streets of the city.

“Do you think Katherine sent those assassins?” Stefan asked, as Klaus careened around another narrow corner.

“Of course. It’s Katherine. She doesn’t just give up that easily.” Rebekah explained with distain in her voice, clearly sharing my dislike for the doppel-bitch.

“Isn’t Elijah on her trail? Wasn’t he right behind her?” Stefan said, leaning forward on the seats.

“That reminds me.” Klaus said, pulling out his cell phone and tapping on the contact “EM.” Letting it ring for a few seconds then putting it on speaker phone, Elijah’s posh voice soon permeated the car.

“Niklaus.” He greeted.

“Big brother. How fares the tailing of the elusive doppelganger?”

“I talked with her on the flight.” Elijah said uncomfortably. Kol snorted in the back.

“Really? And did you snap her neck and are en route back to the States as we speak?”

“Brother, Katarina needs to be handled with delicacy. She doesn’t have the cure on her.”

“How did you check?” Kol shouted from the far back of the SUV.

“She accompanied me to a hotel. I assure you, I was very through.”

“Define through brother.” Kol shouted again. Elijah cleared his throat uncomfortably.

“Anyway, what do you want me to do? Compel it out of her? She’s on vervain.”

“No… Snap her neck. Bring her back here.” Klaus ordered.

“It’s not that easy. She wants her freedom. From you, brother. I can’t just force her to do this.”

“Is this love, Elijah?” Klaus said, bemused. I could just picture the strict Original uncomfortably tugging at his tie.

“Though it might be, she has crossed me too many times.” Klaus smirked, before thinking for a moment. Elijah hesitated for a moment, as if scared to say something, but went on. “She wants me to broker a deal. Her freedom for the Cure. If you want it, then you’re going to have to give her back her freedom.”

Klaus didn’t respond, lost in thought, so I answered Elijah for him.

“He’ll think it over.” I told him as we pull up to the now familiar gate of the house. Klaus punched a button and the ivy twined gate rolled back.

Entering the garage, I realized just how many cars Klaus had.  The red Ferrari, the black Lamborghini, the silver Bugatti, a stately black Bentley, and countless motorcycles neatly lined up in a row.

The moment we hit the door, I headed for the stairs, not even caring if anyone followed me. Stefan was saying something, about Damon and Elena’s arrival, no doubt, but I had just blocked everything out. I was tired and achy. All I wanted now was a hot bath and bed.

Stumbling up the stairs, I pushed open the black door leading to my and Klaus’s room with a relieved sigh. Meandering towards the bathroom, I stripped off as I went, kicking my heels to the side and shaking my hair out. I lean over the copper tub, as I worked my dress off, turning on the water.

I sunk into the water with a relieved sigh, dunking my head under once to soak my hair. Underwater, I could hear the sounds of everyone in the house: the banging downstairs of a decanter, the scream of a blow drying, the crackling of a page, and the opening of a door… Klaus.

I resurfaced, shaking out my hair and reaching for the soap as he stepped into the room with a stormy thoughtful look on his face heading for his closet.

“Klaus? Do you want to talk about this?” I called to him, but he kept storming towards the doors, throwing them open with a dramatic sweep of his hands. I rolled my eyes at him and began to wash my body.

I hadn’t realized how much I was showing. Damn blood bond. I mean, very soon I would look like I was having a baby. No way to hide it.

“I hope you don’t have your father’s temper.” I remarked to my bump as I run shampoo through my hair. I know Klaus was listening. I could hear him pause in the closet as I spoke.

“You know, you came at the worst time.”

Klaus emerged from the closet with a suspicious look on his face, staring at me.

“What do you mean by that, love?” He asked, coming closer to crouch next to the tub. I regarded him with a raised eyebrow, bemused that he would be intruding on my conversation.

“We could die any day now.”

“That’s always been the case, Caroline.” He said, strangely philosophical.

“What are you going to do about Katherine?” I proceeded cautiously now. He sighed, getting up and walking over to the sink. “Look, I hate her. But, we need the Cure.”

“Exactly my thoughts, but I can’t give into her this easily.”

“Say you’re doing it for Elijah’s sake. But, make a couple of conditions, terms, maybe compel her a bit. And give Elijah time to make his pitch. You know, you guys all have the same code. Family above all.” I suggested, grabbing conditioner and dunking my head again. He paused from his shaving to look at me for a second. He then walked over to me, his expression indecipherable.

“You. Are. Brilliant.” He said, punctuating each word with a kiss, his shaving cream rubbed off on my cheeks. Giggling, I dunked my head under again, as he returned to the sink.

When I finished, I stepped out of the tub and grabbed one of the fluffy black towels folded neatly beside the bath. Klaus had left already, presumably to greet our “guests” when they arrived. In the closet, I stood in front of the mirror and examined myself.

My stomach curved out, with my bellybutton slightly protruding as well. Turning to the side, I run one hand over my curve frowning. Were those stretch marks?

“Seriously?” I muttered to myself as I stalked into the closet and immediately grabbed a pair of shorts. Pulling them on, I was shocked.

“What the hell.” I frowned. They were stuck. Literally, they wouldn’t even go an inch over my bump. Frustrated, I let out a sigh, tugging them off and throwing them across the room.  I dug through the rest of my luggage, finally coming up with a pair of sweat pants, that should fit.

Luckily, they did. I took one of Klaus’s shirts as I left, slipping it over my head and taking one last look at myself.

I surprised myself sometimes. I didn’t look pretty or happy. I looked scared. Do I fear this just as much as Klaus? Having three death threats in one day can do a number on a person. But, really, was I just as scared?

Yes. I didn’t know how to do this. I had raised myself. I wasn’t a motherly person. Elena was the one who did all the babysitting in Mystic Falls. I wasn’t made for this.

But, I wanted it so badly. I hadn’t realized how much I wanted this until I lost the opportunity the night I was turned. All of a sudden you wake up and realize that you are never going to hold someone created out of love in your hands. You’re never going to take them to soccer practice or walk them into their first day of kindergarten. I had cried when I realized it, missing the phantom child.

Now the child was real. And though I wasn’t sure I was ready, I had to be.

I regarded myself again in the mirror, quirking my lips into a smile. There. I looked almost motherly now.

I nearly tumbled down the stairs as I walked out, forgetting that there was but a small landing separating the door. I nearly ran down the rest of the stairs, not tripping over any of the others, and ran into the cozy living room.

Klaus was painting again, while Stefan paced the room with a glass of bourbon in his hand and Rebekah tapped away at a laptop. Kol and Bonnie sat in the corner couch reading an ancient looking book together.

I curled up into the armchair next to where Klaus had set up his easel and examined the painting.

It’s a cityscape, a glimmering sea of lights backed by darkness. The perspective was from above, looking out over the lights, with a dark river cutting the city in half. New Orleans?

The detailing in the painting was impeccable, as though it’s an extremely clear photograph. The outlines in the windows each unique, the little things hanging from balconies, the boats on the river.

“It’s beautiful.”  I said and he looked at me, before going back to his soft brushstrokes.

“You always say that, please Caroline, some variety. They can’t all be beautiful.”

“But I haven’t seen a bad one yet.” I protested, giggling a bit to myself. Rebekah looked up from her computer and rolled her eyes with a slight smile on her face.

“Could you two please turn down the PDA? Some people are trying to work here.” Kol complained from the corner.

“By work do you mean eye fucking?” Rebekah called, not even looking up from the laptop. Bonnie blushes, and then stared hard at the page she had been reading. “Caroline, come here.” Rebekah then said, motioning me over to the laptop.

Sitting down beside her I noticed what she had been so intently looking at. Baby things. Names, furniture, clothes, the whole package.

“Have you two thought of names yet?” She said all business like, tapping on the first tab. I could see Klaus rolling his eyes.

“Not really… Klaus suggested asking you, I mean, for names like your family. Apparently he doesn’t remember any.”

“I don’t” He insisted, changing his brushes.

“Whatever Nik, keep telling yourself that. Now, here are all the names Mother chose for any siblings we might have had.” She opened up a word document, and I stared at an extremely comprehensive list. There were a couple of more modern names in there too, no doubt Rebekah suggestions.

A couple of them stood out to me, oddly enough only from the boy’s column.

Kael, Kane, Konrad. All “K” ironically. They seemed to fit with the family theme.

“Soooo… Do you like any of them?” Rebekah asked impatiently.

“A couple, Klaus, come over here and looks at this.” He looked at me once, before returning to his painting completely and utterly ignored me.

“Nik… Earth to Nik.” Kol called from the back of the room, getting up to refill his tequila. “Oh well, he’s either ignoring us for some reason or he’s too lost in his art world. I just think Kol is an excellent name.”

“I am not naming any child of mine Kol.” Klaus said, putting down his paintbrush with a loud bang and walking over to the bar. He reached over to a rack and pulled out a bottle of wine, a bit dusty, but he just brushed it off.

“Why not?” Kol protested, walking over to sit in front of his brother on a bar stool, probably wanting some wine.

“Because the world doesn’t need one Kol Mikaelson, much less two.”

“But, I wouldn’t have been resurrected had the world not needed one devilishly handsome Original.”

Klaus glared at his brother, while pouring the wine into a couple of glasses, handing one to Kol.

“I believe that could refer to _my_ resurrection as well, brother.”

“But yours didn’t have as much flair as mine, Nik, you really need to work on your style.” Rebekah rolled her eyes, though I saw her grinning. She’s missed this, the bickering, the comradely.

We looked like a family. Granted, the messed up ages and various other screw ups, but we looked typical.

A Cookie cutter American family.

Then doorbell rang.

Stefan jumped up like he was shot out of a canon, running for the door. Kol and Klaus wore identical evil smirks, as though they planned something in advance. Probably revenge, given that Elena did kill him. Rebekah just rolled her eyes, shutting her laptop, while Bonnie slammed the book closed and got up coming over to sit next to me.

Stefan threw open the door and immediately I heard Damon, presumably followed by Elena.

“Have you fixed it yet?” He asked, his voice echoing through the high foyer. I heard footsteps, three pairs coming towards us and the Golden Triangle appeared at the entry to the living room.

Elena had changed. Her hair was curly, with hot pink streaks in it, and her clothes made her look almost like a carbon copy of Katherine. Of course, Damon hadn’t changed at all, still wearing his leather jacket and normal dark clothing.

“This isn’t a problem you can just snap your fingers and erase, Damon.” Bonnie said, with a bit of spite in her voice.

“Well then how close are you to fixing it?” Damon snapped walking over to the side board where a bottle of bourbon sat. He looked once at Klaus, questioning whether to take it, but Klaus merely nodded.

“Fixing what?” Elena piped up, sitting down on an armchair opposite me.

“The veil is down.” Rebekah said simply, picking up her cocktail from the side table as Klaus emerged from the bar to lounge on a large chair similar to his throne at Le Voleur in front of the fireplace. I jumped up to join him, perching on the armrest. Damon looked at us with a raised eyebrow, trying to piece all the weirdness together.

“So? What does that mean for me?” Elena asked.

“It means that your brother, who relentlessly murdered me, at _your_ encouragement, is coming back from the grave.” Kol said, harshly over a sip of wine, his eyes brightly dangerous. Elena just might get her neck snapped tonight.

Elena was in shock. Her mouth gaped open like a fish, gasping for air, and her doe eyes were wide.

Damon had been staring at us the whole time, trying to figure something out. He was confused, though he looked almost happy. Who wouldn’t? He was going to get his best friend back.

“Blondie, you look different. Shouldn’t you be yelling at the Original Hybrid?”

I laughed. But not too long ago, I had been screaming at him on a daily basis, for the big things. Now, it was just minor scolding.

“She yelled at me this morning.” Klaus said, taking another sip from his wine.

“For what? Touching her shoes?”

“No. Trying to turn it off, actually.” Klaus answered, a bit embarrassed, taking a sudden interest in his shoes.

“Why the hell would you do something that stupid? What happened to being bad with purpose?” Damon asked. I could sense something was going on here.

“Ummm, what does that mean?” I asked, looking from Klaus to Damon. Damon smirked, while Klaus shot him a warning look.

“Just some advice I gave your little boyfriend a while back. Blondie, have you put on weight? You look fat.”

Seriously? Was it that noticeable? Everyone in the room in on the secret smiled, or laughed in Kol’s case.

“I do not!” I insisted, crossing my hands over my stomach. I was pregnant, not fat.

“On the contrary, love, you have picked up _some_ weight.” Klaus said, looking at me with those damn puppy eyes.

“No thanks to you! It’s your fault!” I smacked him on the head and returned my arms to their original crossed position over my stomach.

“How is it his fault? Too many fancy dinners?” Damon teased and I blushed.

“No… I’ll lose the weight eventually, in a couple of months.” I said cryptically, now resting my hands on my stomach, the telltale sign of pregnancy, with the classic secretive smile on my lips. Elena was staring at me now, brought back from her stunned silence over Jeremy.

Damon groaned.

“Seriously? More Hybrids? And Blondie, do you think want to see proof you and Daddy Hybrid are fucking. And here I thought vampire couldn’t procreate.”


	24. Love's Gaze

Bound By Blood

**Chapter XIV: Love’s Gaze**

_Gently, let us steep our love_

_In the silence deep, as thus,_

_Branches arching high above_

_Twine their shadows over us._

_Let us blend our souls as one,_

_Hearts’ and senses’ ecstasies,_

_Evergreen, in unison_

_With the pines’ vague lethargies._

_Dim your eyes and, heart at rest,_

_Freed from all futile endeavor,_

_Arms crossed on your slumbering breast,_

_Banish vain desire forever._

_Let us yield then, you and I,_

_To the waftings, calm and sweet,_

_As their breeze-blown lullaby_

_Sways the gold grass at your feet._

_And, when night begins to fall_

_From the black oaks, darkening,_

_In the nightingale’s soft call_

_Our despair will, solemn, sing._

_-Paul Verlain, In Muted Tone_

_Translated from French by Norman R. Shapiro_

**Caroline POV**

Tyler was to say the least, a hoarder. Not that it was a necessarily bad thing in our case, we had all the information we wanted, but the tedious searching through the files wasn’t fun.

Not to mention the expansive porn stash Damon and Kol found child-like delight in combing through quite arduously.

We dropped like flies one by one.

Elena, who had been uncharacteristically silent in her work with Damon, had strewn herself across his lap. Eventually Damon bid us good night as well, though I had told him repeatedly to go to sleep. He carried Elena up to bed, not before nearly dropping her on the stairs and treating us to the more colorful parts of his language.

Stefan had enough sense at least to retire when Rebekah started to use him as a pillow, getting up quite hurriedly much to the displeasure of the Original Barbie.

Kol, Bonnie, Klaus, and I were the last working, though I was fighting a losing battle with my brain. I even spotted Klaus's eyelids droop a couple of times.

Bonnie and Kol, however, had endless energy, devouring and analyzing file after file

Our search however had not proved fruitful yet.

I had been debating when it would be a "good time" to tell Klaus about the Blood Bond. Well, technically there never would be a good time, but chances were if I told him at night, there would be less of a chance of storming off and having a hissy fit.

I felt my eyes begin to shut for the umpteenth time tonight and I nearly gave into it. Maybe for five minutes, I thought to myself as I curl up in the armchair.

I must have been asleep longer however, or maybe Klaus had decided for me, but when I woke up later that night, I was safe and sound, tucked into bed.  I was only subconscious, lifting my head only slightly from Klaus's rock-hard chest to examine my change of scenery.

My hair was a tangled mess over my eyes as I tried to move it out of the way to see the click mounted on the wall.

2:36 AM.

I made a slight moaning sound and fell back on the fluffy pillows. Klaus makes a slight "mrph" of protest at my loudness, burying his face deeper into his feathery grave. I smiled, feeling my dimples come into play and poked him. There was no way I was going back to bed now.

“Klaus, are you awake?” I whispered, poking him again in his side. He opened one eye and regarded me.

“No, I’m asleep.” He said sarcastically, propping his head up on one arm.

Laughing a bit I sunk into his chest.

“Was there any particular reason you disturbed me?” He asked, wrapping his arm around me. I thought for a moment, debating the exact way to approach the problem. He still had sleep in his eyes, the usual deep blue of his eyes clouded over with a misty greyish fog. His hair was mussed, the curls messily flying all over the place and his dimples were just peeking out. A black sheet draped half of his body, exposing half of his chest, scattered with various tattoos.

“Caroline, what’s wrong? What did the witches tell you earlier?” He asked, realizing my worried look and immediately delving into the crux of the situation. I took a deep breath and dove headfirst into the complex explanation.

“Apparently there are bonds more than just sire bonds.” I began, staring intently at him, just waiting for another episode. “Supposedly, according to the African witch, we have something called a Blood Bond.”

Klaus looked at me extremely confused.

“And what does that exactly entail?” He asied through slightly gritted teeth. “Did the witch even tell you?”

“It doesn’t involve any freaky mind control if that’s what you asking. It’s weird. I guess it’s how our baby was made, but how Kezi explained it made it seem sort of like vampire… marriage; something about true love and compassion.”

Klaus stared at me, dumbfounded, a myriad of emotions coming out to play in his usually closed off features. Anger, worry, surprise, awe.

I decided to wait a bit for him to calm down before I told him the other half of the equation, the fragile part where time and blood intertwine.

Klaus stared at me for a second before suddenly jerking his arm out from under his head and flopping back down on his pillow.

“The man who couldn’t love, bound by blood.” He chuckled to himself turning back to me. He’s bemused now, not rage filled. Maybe night was the best time to unveil to him important secrets. “Why do you drop all these bombshells on me in the middle of the night?” He asked me.

“Because you less likely to storm off and go on a killing spree.” I laughed, reaching my hand up to his face to play with his hair.

He gave me a look before huffing again.

“Any other secrets you want to tell me?” He asked exasperatedly looking at me.

“Just One. You know how we blood share?” He nodded his eyes bright with curiosity. “Well due to the bond, your blood accelerates the baby’s growth.”

A list of extravagant curses stream from Klaus mouth, as he sat up.

“By how much?” He spat out finally, staring at me with some rage in his eyes. I didn’t cower. He needed to get his temper under control. It’s not like this is life or death.

“Calm down Klaus!” I snapped at him, sitting up too and turning towards him, “It’s just by in witchy terms, two full moons. So only two months! No need to go all pyscho-crazy about it.”

His eyes hardened into point of blue iron, then softened into fragile shards of azure glass. ‘Self-mockingly,’ he says.

“My father told me once, that no one could ever love me. But, it’s been my downfall every time. My one weakness,” he started, staring off far into the past as he spoke.

“Love isn’t a weakness,” I insisted, laying my hand on his chest, right over his undead heart, where a flock of birds trail down to. I realize what the birds cover. An old wound, a scar, probably left from when he was mortal.

I had spent enough time around him, though I had never noticed all the scars he had. His tattoos covered a sword cut, deep, straight through his heart. There were various other, less obvious, scars, carved into his skin. I ran my hand across them.

“How did you get these?” I asked quietly, running my hand over what looked like a whip mark curving over his shoulder. His eyes follow my hand.

“My father,” He croaked, staring painfully at the scars, reliving a world of pain, as I run my hands down his arm, where the scars are only faintly visible.

I wasn’t sure what to make of it.

He didn’t know how to control his emotions, yet there was reasoning behind it. Though he was born in a different time, he was broken forever.

Battered and bruised, we both were. I turned around to lay into him, purposely letting him see the scars on my back.

He didn’t say anything else and neither did I. We just laid there listening to each other’s rhythmic breathing.

*Bound By Blood*

**Bonnie POV**

Kol made me go to bed when I fell asleep on a pile of folders at 3 AM. I had gone back to my bedroom, though I could still hear him restlessly moving about downstairs, and tried to sleep.

I didn’t know why I couldn’t sleep. I was dead tired, nearly falling off my feet earlier. I still was. But, something was nagging at the back of my mind.

What the spirits had said…. It scared me.

I hadn’t told the group everything, far from it.

The spirits had told me that I was the key to restoring the veil, but I was only half the equation. They said they were restoring the other half.

Though I didn’t know what exactly restoration meant, I had a pretty good idea that when they said “the Original vampire who is half.” They didn’t mean Klaus. They meant Kol.

I worried for him.

He pretended to be this sort of Peter Pan, worry-free and fun, but on the inside, he was so screwed up that I think too much change might kill him.

I heard him pass my door at around 4 AM, according to the blinking clock on my bedside table. I knew nightmares would come to him tonight. I didn’t know how, I just…. Knew.

Silently I slipped into his darkened room. All I could make out was a ball curled up on the bed. I climbed in beside him.

Kol slept like the dead. Well, technically he is dead.

Sleep came over me the moment I lied down.

*Bound By Blood*

**Kol POV**

I had felt Bonnie get into bed with me on some level of my mind, though I wasn’t fully conscious.

Something—or rather someone—was messing around inside my head.

I had ideas in my head I hadn’t even thought of before, not necessarily bad ones, just ideas.

“My son.” A voice echoed in my mind. In my dream, I whirled around to face my mother.

“Esther. What do you want?” I snarled.

“The spirits sent me.” She said.

“I don’t believe you.”

“You always were a stubborn one. She’s telling the truth” A musical voice said from behind me. I whirled to face Ayanna.

I rolled my eyes, and stared warily at both witches.

“What do you need? Why are the spirits concerning themselves with one vampire?”

Ayanna glared at me, and the resemblance struck. I had almost forgotten that Bonnie was descended from her.

“You are not just a vampire, my son. Not anymore.” Esther said cryptically.

“I was resurrected. So what?”

“Your resurrection had a reason. Didn't I tell you once everything has a reason? Tell me, have you felt any different since you came back to life in the Gilbert’s kitchen?” My mother questioned me, scientifically.

“Other than finally getting some witchy action, no.” Both of the women sent me motherly glares.

“What about your dreams?” Ayanna pressed.

“That is none of your business.” I growled, my eyes fierce. Bonnie was the only other person that knew about those. The only person I ever intended to let find out.

“There are no secrets from the dead,” Esther said, sitting in a chair that had just appeared.  Ayanna walked over to me. I flinched a bit when she got close, reaching up to put her hands on the sides of my head, closing her eyes.

“He hasn’t unlocked it yet. But, the potential is there,” She stated to Esther, removing her hands from my head.

“Could you please not treat me like a child and tell me what the hell is going on inside my own head? What haven’t I unlocked? What potential?”

“When you came back to life, the spirits saw a higher purpose with you. You had chased witches for years, and though your loyalty can be questioned at times, you have a good heart. They gave you back the only the potential to regain your abilities.” Esther explained.

I couldn’t believe it. All those dreams, trying to practice magic again, I had the ability to do it again? Granted I had failed, but how Esther put it, it was only a matter of “unlocking” them. Whatever that meant.

“You have a bigger role in this, Kol. With my descendant too. Ask her about unlocking your abilities. Tell her to look at my old grimorie.” Ayanna said, as she and Esther faded back into smoke.

I shot up, gasping for air. Early morning light flooded the room, illuminating the slight wisp of a girl curled up beside me.

“Kol? What’s wrong?” Bonnie muttered, propping herself up on one arm while using her hand to wipe the sleep out of her eyes.

I was still gasping, a bit sweaty, as I fully processed what had happened in my dream.

“Did you know?” I asked her, getting control of my breathing.

“Know what?” She was confused, of course she didn’t know. Bonnie was a terrible liar.

“I am able… I have my…” I was laughing now, I couldn’t believe it. She was looking at me like I was crazy and in a way I am. “I know I probably sound crazy, but…”

“You always sound crazy.” She pointed out, “Continue.”

“But somehow, when I came back to life… The spirits, they said… I can practice.” I said excitedly.

“Is that why you’ve been having all those dreams?” She asked, doubtful if it was really possible.

“I think so… Anyways, Ayanna said….”

“Ayanna Bennett? She died a thousand years ago.” Bonnie interrupted me.

“Well I guess she’s an emissary for the spirits. Anyway, she said that you know how to unlock it. To look in her grimorie.”

“That was lost years ago! Are you sure it’s not in Emily’s?” She argued with me.

“She specifically said her grimorie. And it wasn’t lost. I took it.”

“WHAT?!?” She yelled at me, fire entering her enchanting eyes.

“I saved it from Nik’s homicidal burning of our village.” I explained matter of factly, though waiting for a blow to my arm.

“And you never gave it back to the Bennetts?” She screeched, slapping me instead.

“I’m sorry! You’re the first Bennett I’ve met!” I said, as she got up and started to pace the room angrily. At least she didn’t leave.

“Ok, where is this mysterious grimorie then?” She sat back down on the bed, next to me.

“Somewhere at Marcel’s.” She groaned remembering last night’s utter fiasco. Neither of us wanted to go back there.

“What time is it?” She asked flopping back down on the bed.

“8.” I checked, grabbing my cell phone off the bedside table and looking back at her. I hadn’t realized exactly what she had been wearing this whole time. I shifted uncomfortably as my friend began to come awake.

How could she look this beautiful, so early in the morning? Her hair was a mess, curls streaming down her back, her eyes light up with those gold flecks that I loved so much when she smiled at me. Her skin glowed with a sort of inner light and the tiny black slip she was wearing left little the imagination.

I suddenly had the overwhelming urge to kiss her. We had been dancing around this all of yesterday, and quite frankly how she looked, how I was staring down at her. I couldn’t help myself.

I surprised her. One moment we were fighting, the next I was on top of her, lips smashed together. Hers were frozen for a second, before responding with equal fire.

Our bodies fit together I noticed, as I pressed harder onto her lips, and without meaning to grinding my hips a bit against hers. She moaned, letting her mouth open slightly allowing me to slide my tongue into it. They met, tangling together, her teeth clinking against mine. One of her hands tangles in my hair while its partner ran down the length of my shirt, to play with the bottom of it.

Her heart beat was fast, excited. Mine was nearly up to human speed, a rapid beat of nerves, adrenaline, and pure emotion.

She pushed me back a bit, just enough to disconnect the kiss and tug my shirt over my head, grinning devilishly. She threw it somewhere in the room, though I didn’t pay much attention to where it landed as I attacked her smooth neck with my lips. Not my fangs, of course.

She shuttered, gasping out my name, and scratching my bare back.

“You little witch.” I smirked, muttering into her neck. I’m tempted right then and there to rip off her nightgown, but I controlled myself. I wanted to see her say it again.

She solved the problem however sliding it off her as I worked my way down her neck, leaving small human bites on her neck.

I yanked the remained of it off of her and threw it towards the opening door.

Fuck.

“Niklaus sent me to get you….” Elijah said, before trailing off seeing my current position. Bonnie froze immediately. WHY, WHY, WHY must my brothers always cock block me! Elijah had vampire hearing. It wasn’t like he didn’t know how to knock.

This was payback.

“Get out!” I yelled at him, and he smirked.

“Didn’t know you were entertaining, Kol, but Niklaus is having a meeting downstairs.” I threw a shirt from the bedside table at him and he ducked out. Bonnie pushed me off her, and I tumbled to the side of her, both of us panting heavily.

“Your family…” She muttered, getting up and walking into my closet. I trailed after her like a puppy.

She grabbed a large button of mine and pulled it over her head. It was much too long for her, almost a dress. Though, she looked like a supermodel in it.

Smiling at me deviously, she left without another word, my eyes following her every move.

“Shit.” I muttered to myself, stripping off the rest of my clothes. I was in desperate need of a cold shower.

*Bound By Blood*

**Klaus POV**

The phone was ringing. Groaning, I detached myself from Caroline’s clutches to fumble around on the bedside table.

“What?” I mumbled into the phone.

“That’s no way to speak to your elder, Niklaus.” Elijah’s snotty superior sounding voice corrected me.

“Did you get my text?” I asked, waking up a bit more.

“She’s at one of my private manors… She will give you the cure, in exchange for her freedom.” Elijah reiterated.

“I know that Elijah. And is she sending you as her trained dog to plead?” I spat.

“Actually, I’m already here.” I heard Elijah’s voice echo in the foyer. I vamp sped down the stairs, to confront him.

Caroline had moved slightly as I had answered the call but now sat bolt upright calling after me.

I didn't listen to her.

My elder brother stood in the hallway, looking as sleek and suave as ever in his usual suit, accented today with a maroon tie.

"Have you considered our offer?" he asked staring me down.

"So now there's a ‘we’ between you and Katarina. Did she seduce you again?" I taunted him.

"I am merely looking for compromise Niklaus."

"What exactly are you compromising? Your morals? Or do you give yourself over to the devil when you sleep with the Petrova-whore?" Rebekah said from the top of the stairs, faithfully trailed by Stefan.

"Rebekah." Elijah greeted her. "Make Niklaus see reason." He insisted, like a sibling seeking the mother's approval. He was acting like Finn.

As Rebekah started her long spiel on why fucking the second doppelgänger was the same as explicitly giving yourself to the devil and making Stefan look considerably paler, Caroline appeared like an angel at the top of the stairs, a pregnant angel, granted.

Her white nightgown did little to conceal her stomach, rather it accented it, and the pearls that covered her collar would have given her a virginal look.

Everyone stared at her. Never had her pregnancy been clearer.

I only then remembered that Elijah didn't know yet. As Caroline headed downs the stairs, I looked at my brother.

His face was white, both confused and fearful.

"Is there something you would like to tell me Niklaus?" He asked icily, through gritted teeth.

"Meeting now." I said quite calmly, leading Caroline into the living room. "And would you mind getting our brother. I believe he and the witch are quite involved upstairs."

*Bound By Blood*

**Caroline POV**

This had to be the oddest thing we had done yet.

All of us, except for Elijah, were in pajamas, at varying states of undress.

Stefan had stormed off and from what we heard, had rudely awoken Damon and Elena. When he had returned he had been muttering to himself darkly, over a glass of bourbon apparently he had seen something he had strongly disliked.

Rebekah had been taunting Elijah for the past twenty minutes, as the rest of our motley little group had yet to make an appearance. She looked like a doll in her pink shorts and matching top and every so often she would give Stefan these longing, passionate looks that made me want to puke.

Of course, Stefan was oblivious.

When Elena came into the room, she looked completely different from the total bitch she was yesterday. Today she looked more like a half-bitch or maybe even a quarter, her eyes distant and still trailing Damon, whose face was as dark as his brothers. Without even acknowledging any of us in the room, he stormed over to the bar and immediately poured himself a drink.

Klaus raised his eyebrows.

“Isn’t it a bit early for drink, Damon?” Elijah asked from his spot on one of the many couches strewn across the room.

Damon shot him a glare as he sat back down on the same couch as the previous night next to Elena. She was completely out of it, her hair disheveled (though I had a sneaking suspicion that Damon was the culprit, not her pillow) and her red night dress hung crookedly off of her thin frame.

I was sick of all this fighting, for once being glad I was an only child. Wishing that Kol and Bonnie would hurry up, I stared around the room, just waiting to puke again. It was morning, so at any moment I would be rushing to the bathroom, waiting to puke up anything that was left in my stomach.

Before I could show the group my morning act, Bonnie slinked into the room, followed by Kol, surprising us all. All she was wearing was a distinctly male shirt.

It was much too long for her, just touching her knees, and she wore a mysterious smile to go with her attire, like she had been caught doing something she shouldn’t.

Kol trailed after her like a lost puppy, as usual, though today with wet hair and a wild expression in his eyes, as he stared heatedly at Bonnie.

“You finally decided to join us.” Klaus taunted, looking at his brother’s hair, clearly insinuating either shower sex or a cold shower.

“What is it Nik? I was busy.” Kol whined, throwing himself onto his designated spot on the couch, while Bonnie sat down primly next to him.

“We could hear you having sex upstairs, so don’t act all innocent Kol.” Rebekah said, with a mischievous look in her eyes that we usually only see in Kol’s eyes.

The pair blushed and Bonnie punched Kol in the arm, muttering something about vampire hearing under her breath. Her eyes didn’t meet.

“Finally, witchy stopped fucking humans. Trust me, supernatural sex is _so_ much better.” Damon drawled from the couch. Elena smacked him on the back of his neck and he chokes on his sip of bourbon spilling it ever so slightly on the rug.

“Shut up Damon.” Bonnie snapped. “Why exactly are we here?” she asked Klaus, surprisingly cordial.

“Elijah has come to offer us a deal. And we need to get him up to speed about various other things.” Klaus said.

“For starters, the veil is down.” Klaus said, grabbing the bottle of bourbon from the side table. Right as he raised it to his lips I grabbed it.

“No.” I said, putting it back on the table and he looked at me petulantly. “No Alcohol before breakfast.” The rest of the men smirked into their respective glasses of alcohol.

“Why do any of you need alcohol anyways? Well, only Elijah would, he needs to purge his system of hellish bitch.” Rebekah said.

“Katarina is not from hell.” Elijah said coldly to his sister.

“But she is a major bitch.” Damon said rather pointedly. Suddenly, I felt the vomit rushing towards my mouth. Seriously? Why now?

“One second.” I said quickly, then dashing to the bathroom just in time for the puke to erupt from my mouth.

I must sound like I’m dying.

“So she _is_ with child.” Elijah commented in the living room. I heard the clink of a bottle.

“Klaus don’t you dare let me catch you drinking!” I yelled, suspecting that he was drinking behind my back. Kol makes an ‘ohhhhh’ sound and I hear Klaus huff.

“Lucky you, Blondie’s controlled freakiness has only multiplied since you knocked her up.” Damon made another one of his snarky comments I hated.

Another wave of vomit comes out, the last of the blood/food in my stomach. The waves following were just straight up bile.

When I finished ten minutes later, Elijah was brought up to speed on what had happened, also bringing Damon and Elena up to speed as well.

As I sat back down, everyone looked at me weirdly. I suppose my bulimic routine was quite spectacular, though I was now starving. Klaus without a word hands me a blood bag.

“What?” I asked the staring group as I took a delicate sip from my blood bag. B positive. “It’s not like any of you haven’t seen vomit before.”

“Correction: Vampires don’t get sick. So technically we haven’t seen this before.” Stefan said. I glared at him.

“Could everyone just stop staring at me?” I snapped. They all looked away. Elijah cleared his throat staring at Klaus.

“Have you considered my offer? It’s a small price to pay for the Cure.” He said, looking intently at his brother.

“Why are you doing this Elijah? Why do you care so much about Katarina?” Klaus countered.

“Because she’s my friend.” He answered looking down at his folded hands in his lap.

“And by friend, he means _friend.”_ Katherine said, leaning against the door, a classic bitch smirk on her face.

*Bound By Blood*

If Katherine wasn’t the sole person who knew where the Cure was, she would have been dead in five seconds.

The room collectively had a mixture of groaning and trying to kill Katherine at the same time before Elijah had hastily reminded us that if one of us killed Katherine, we would lose the Cure forever.

She grinned like the Cheshire cat from her perch on Elijah’s lap. Everyone in the room glared at her.

“Where is the Cure?” Klaus spat, the first words anyone had spoken since Katherine had entered the room.

She laughed mockingly.

“You think I’ll give away the only thing that keeps you from ripping my heart out? As if!”

“Katarina.” Elijah said quietly, placing a hand over hers. Eww.

Damon had been holding Elena back the whole time, her eyes feral as she stared at her mirror image with pure and utter hatred. The look he was shooting Katherine didn’t show any less loathing than his girlfriend’s.

She meets Elijah’s eyes, doing that damn puppy dog look that _had_ to be genetic and sighed.

“Fine. But, how do I know he’s just not going to snap my neck the moment I tell him?” She whined. Elijah’s hard eyes flashed with some mirth as he took out a dagger. It wasn’t white oak; it was pure silver, with a gold hilt flashing with emeralds.

Bonnie and Kol let out a gasp, somehow immediately recognizing the odd weapon, as Elijah silently held it out for Klaus to see.

“Threatening me?” Klaus laughed bitterly.

“Niklaus I don’t think you understand. An oath dagger is quite a good way to insure that no one dies, don’t you think?”

Klaus stared at his older brother acutely, with squinted eyes, trying to distinguish whether or not he was lying. In one smooth motion, Kol snatched the dagger from Elijah, handing it to Bonnie. She pressed her hands to the hilt for a couple of seconds, with closed eyes, then speaking.

“It’s real.” She says handing the dagger back to Elijah. He noded, thanking her in his usual silence reserved manner.

“But does it work? Katherine’s cheated magic before. It seems to be her forte, “Katherine-ing.” Damon pointed out, still holding Elena back.

“You can’t cheat this. When you do, there are severe consequences.” Bonnie explained her eyes very serious.

“So, do I have any other choice?” Klaus said begrudgingly. Katherine shook her head with an utterly devilish grin, while Elijah did the same solemnly.

“Give me the damn knife then.” He grumbled. Elijah handed it to him, his eyes dancing with satisfaction as Klaus sleekly cut his hand on the silver blade.

“The Cure in exchange for your life.” He said seriously, like an oath, handing the dagger back to his brother, who in turn passed it to Katherine. She slit her hand as well on the opposite side of the blade, Klaus’s blood on the left, hers on the right.

“My life for the Cure.” She rephrased the same oath. A bright light fills the room and when it dims, she’s already speaking. “I gave the Cure to an associate; he placed it exactly where it was without my knowledge. He left the location in one of my bank accounts in Europe. I don’t know which one.”

She clapped her hand over her mouth like she hadn’t meant to reveal that much, but there was a larger force at work. Klaus nodded once, before tossing Kol his phone.

“Call the plane Kol. We’re leaving as soon as possible. The United States wouldn’t be safe as is.” Klaus ordered. Kol looked at his brother quizzically.

“No.” Kol said. We all stared at him. Last time he stood down his brother, he got a dagger in his heart.

“Why not?” Klaus said, some gold coming into his eyes.

“Just one more day Nik. I have to… take care of something.” Kol said, staring at the ground gripping the phone in his hand.

“What do you need to do? Get drunk again at Marcel’s?” Klaus sassed him.

“I have to retrieve something that I…. left behind the last time I was here...”

“What the hell has been here for the last centur—oh, your grimories.” Klaus said, realizing that all of his brother’s old life was packed in dusty boxes waiting to be opened and freed. “Can’t that wait Kol?”

“No it really can’t.” He said, pleading with his eyes. This was his last attachment to his past, unlike Klaus who tried to forget it. Klaus sighed defeated, flopping back onto the couch with me.

“Fine. One Day.” He surrendered.

“Where are you keeping my agents?” Katherine asked, taking Elijah’s drink right out of his hand and taking a sip.

“Who? We have several.” I cut in, wishing that my gaze alone could burn a hole in her head. She looked at me curiously.

“Didn’t I turn you?” She asked me. Klaus growled at her in response. “And you are fucking _Klaus?_ How long has that been going on? A week? He’d be done with you in about that time.”

“A year.” I threw into her teeth with a vengeful smile. She looks startled for a second, then quickly recovered.

She looked interestedly at my stomach though said nothing, before the cell phone in Kol’s hand rings.

Klaus looks at his brother, asking for his own phone, but Kol answered it anyways.

“Marcel?” Kol asked, dancing out his brother’s reach as he lunges for his cell phone. I giggled to myself. They can be murdering psychopaths for those few seconds that we see them, but normally are just a family. They act so _human_ , playing keep away, that it makes me want to hug them both.

“No, you cannot talk to Klaus,” Klaus grumbled, vamp speeding over to his brother and trying to snatch the phone out of the other Original’s clutches, but Kol backed away, continuing his conversation. “But I have a favor to ask you. I need all my grimories out and packed as soon as you can. Alright bye.” He said the last part extremely quickly as Klaus finally gets the phone away from his, hanging up as soon as Klaus pulled it away from his ear.

“We are leaving for Marcel’s **now** then…. We can’t afford to waste time.” Klaus said angrily to his brother, storming out of the room.

I trailed after, though by the time I reach the foyer, he’s already gone, presumable to his “artist’s haven” at the top of the stairs.

“Seriously?” I muttered to myself storming into the empty kitchen. I needed caffeine. I started to pour myself a cup of coffee before I remembered. Dammit. Pregnant women can’t drink coffee. I reached for the tea kettle instead, grabbing some green tea bags as the water starts to boil.

I hadn’t noticed Bonnie enter the room, the only person who actually needed food in the whole house.

“Your hormones are out of whack this morning.” She said, opening the fridge and taking out some of the pancake batter from yesterday morning. Apparently Rebekah had made breakfast before her and Stefan had gotten…. Distracted by other things.

“They are going to be for the next couple of months so you better get used to it.” I replied, grabbing some bacon out of the silver Sub-Zero fridge as well.

“Did you tell Klaus what the witches said?”

“Yeah.” I answered, rummaging around in the drawer for some pans.

“So since the house is still standing, he took it well?” she assumed laughing a bit.

“He doesn’t know what to do… About any of this.” I answered.

“About what?” Rebekah asked, striding into the room, still looking like fucking Barbie. I glance at Bonnie, asking if I could tell Rebekah.

“You might as well tell her. It’s not like this is something you can hide.”

Rebekah glanced between us curiously, tapping her foot impatiently.

“Your brother’s blood has special properties right?” She nodded, already knowing that much. I mean any vampire blood can heal, but Klaus’s seemed quicker than the rest not to mention its ability to cure werewolf bites.

“And it apparently accelerates the growth of my child.” I completed. Her eyebrows rise, though she doesn’t seem surprised. Rebekah has probably seen almost everything in a millennium.

“Interesting….” Is all she said finally, before the fighting erupts in the living room.

*Bound By Blood*

**Klaus POV**

I like my siblings.

Deep down, I honestly do.

But, sometimes they were just bloody annoying.

I could hear them fighting downstairs, I don’t even want to know who and bury myself back into the sketch I had been working on.

Caroline burst into the room with a expression on her face, one obviously meaning either she was pissed (probably at me as it is often times the case) or just hormonal (always the case.)

She nearly spilt the mug of some hot beverage as she sped across the room, throwing herself on the bed.

“Did they break any of the furniture?” I asked her, not even looking up from my rapid drawing as she sprawled on the couch.

“No, but there was a great amount of hair pulling involved.”

“Since when does Rebekah pull Kol’s hair?” I asked, with the amusing picture in my head.

“It wasn’t Rebekah and Kol, Katherine and Elena decided to have a full-blown bitch off while most of us were in the kitchen.” She answered. I smirked, though just praying that the doppelganger didn’t ruin my living room. Though I was not one to miss a cat fight.

“Who won?” She giggled into her mug of tea and taking a sip.

“Neither. Elijah pulled Katherine off of Elena and snapped her neck. I don’t know where he put her, but he’s still downstairs. Elena went with Damon upstairs and I think he snapped her neck or tied her to the bed because he’s arguing with Stefan over breakfast.”

“Why aren’t you down there then?”

“I got bored. Your family is loud.” I rolled my eyes. Understatement of the century.

She sat placidly staring out the window as I turned the page of my sketchbook, starting a new drawing. Her form, looking out over the city, struck my imagination as I quickly drew her outline.

“Klaus, where are we going?” She asked in a dreamlike voice, her eyes as misty as the fog over the waking city on the river.

“Europe.” I answered, sketching her delicate features, with her blonde locks falling down her back.

“But, where exactly?” She turned towards me, her white eyelashes catching the morning light.

“Paris first, I guess. Then, who knows?”

“But, I don’t have a passport. You can’t compel every official in Europe.” I reached into my bedside table and pull out a blue United States passport. Tossing it to her, she opened it.

“How’d you get this?” she looked back her own face in the blue document.

“I wasn’t sure where we’d go next, so I compelled this one to be rushed when we were in Miami.”

“Thanks.” She only said, before returning to her tea and placid silence, only broken by a loud crash downstairs.

“What the…” I muttered to myself, rushing down the stairs. Caroline still sat in the window seat, viewing the waking city.

*Bound By Blood*

My brother always had the tendency to get into trouble. Even when he was barely able to walk, he would toddle out of the village and fall into the creek at least once a week.

When he grew older, he was always covered in mud, so different from his appearance normally today.

Yet, he still fell into his old habits.

Rebekah was screaming at him, her pink sleeping set completely and utterly soaked, while Kol was covered in what appeared to be pancake batter.

Elijah just sat and sipped his coffee, his suit spotless.

The Salvatore brothers, just stood there, identical smirks on their faces.

Bonnie looked at the fight in shock.

“What the hell did you do to my kitchen?” Caroline shrieked behind me. My siblings went on screaming their lungs out at each other.

“How’s it _your_ kitchen?” Damon Salvatore asked, with a raised eyebrow. Caroline glares at him.

“I HATE YOU!” Rebekah screamed at Kol, nearly racking his face with her nails.

“Love you too, sister dearest. Not my fault that you are a strumpet.” He teased, dancing out of her raging clutches.

“AM NOT! You are more of a whore than me!” She screamed at him.

“Untrue, dear sister. Let’s see… Non-stop sex immediately after you were undaggered, while I haven’t been laid since.” He stated with a wink, walking out of the room.

Rebekah threw a knife after him as he vamp speeded away, screeching horrible profanities at Kol’s retreating back.

She stood there dripping wet for a second with everyone staring at her, before she rolled her eyes once at us and stomped up the back staircase to her room, presumably to change.

“How did she even get wet?” I asked no one in particular, just staring at the puddles of water and pancake batter on my usually spotless floor.

“When she dumped the pancake batter on Kol, he dumped water on her head as payback.” Bonnie explained.

“Will they ever grow up?” Elijah remarked, still sipping his coffee.

“They’ve had a thousand years to, so chances are, never.” I answered, pouring myself another cup of coffee. “Where did the doppelgangers go?”

“’Lena’s upstairs. Apparently, she was the only one of us who couldn’t resist the urge to snap Katherine’s neck. Supposedly, Elijah’s the only one allowed to touch Katherine’s neck.” Damon said, leaning against the window. I saw out of the corner of my eyes the witch slip out of the room and up the back stairs, towards Kol’s room.

They were hiding something, those two.

“And Katarina is in my old bedroom.” Elijah informed us. “Have you visited Marcel yet? I haven’t gotten the chance.”

“We went last night. It was…. Interesting. I mean you can’t live a day without two life and death situations.” Caroline joked, then making a discontented face at her empty mug.

“What did you do now Barbie?” Damon whined.

“ _I_ didn’t do anything. When _certain_ people storm off, you have to go retrieve them before they do something stupid.” She said pointedly, giving me a look. My feet were suddenly pretty interesting right now. “At least he only killed that stupid bitch Hayley.” She finished with a playful smirk, as Damon’s eyes widened.

“Who else did he try to kill besides wolfy-slut?” Damon said.

“Tyler’s an idiot.” I muttered under my breath. Caroline glared at me though it’s true.

“Where did Kol put him by the way?” Stefan asked from his place at the table.

“I have no idea.” I wondered, my eyes drifting to look at the ceiling. Couldn’t have the little pup running off again.

“So are we going to Marcel’s?” Elijah asked, finishing up his cup of coffee and gently putting it in the sink.

“If that’s what Kol wants.” I answered, sticking my head in the fridge and taking out two blood bags, throwing one to Caroline.

Elijah rolled his eyes and walked out of the room, heading towards the grand staircase, and presumably—his bedroom. I look around for Caroline, who has already disappeared upstairs via the back stairs.

“Klaus! Can you come here?” She yelled from the top of the stairs. I rolled my eyes and started to stomp up the stairs.

“Man, she has you whipped.” Damon muttered. I give him my signature death glare, before heading back to Caroline.

*Bound By Blood*

**Caroline POV**

I couldn’t wear any pants.

I had been through probably seven pairs, all discarded and thrown on the floor. They just wouldn’t button.

I heard Klaus come into the room as I tossed _another_ pair of pants across the room.

“Caroline? What did you need me for?” He called, striding into the bathroom.

“Nothing Fits!” I shouted, throwing a sizable half of my pants across the room. He looks at me with his eyebrows raised quizzically.

“I’m sorry? I’ll buy you some new things in Paris.” He said, almost scared of me. I wanted to scream and cry at the same time, then fuck his brains out.

Well, that was hormonal.

“But, nothing! Ugh!” I stomped back into the closet and opened another wardrobe, this time full of dresses. Klaus shadowed me warily. I looked outside once, assessing the weather, before at random, choosing one of the more “springy” dress. It’s only a Chambery shirtdress, doing nothing to hide my bump, paired with a dark leather belt. Klaus watched me for a second as I change, but then goes onto his own side of the closet, laying out his typical Henley and  blazer and dress pants. I mean he has a thousand of them in his closet, yet that is _all_ he wears.

I love that he still has some vintage pieces in his closet, surely not for actual use (no man would be caught dead in some of the things now a days), but maybe rather for the memories.

It’s the same as all his closets, arranged chronologically. Not far from the front, I spy a jacket, instantly catching my imagination, and pull it out.

It’s definitely 80’s style, a bomber jacket with faded leather that smelled like alcohol, cigarette smoke, and… Klaus.

I slipped it on, and then plopped down at my vanity. This one was different than the Miami or Mystic Falls one. It’s older, more antique than the Miami one, but a lot more Old Hollywood glamour than the one I but briefly used in Mystic Falls. Once again my photos were hung up, watching over me.

I don’t know why, but I was thinking of my mom today as I applied my makeup. She smiled down on me from the top right hand corner, her arm wrapped around former “me” in a cheerleading uniform. Maybe it’s because now it’s my turn to be a mother, or maybe because she is probably the strongest woman I had known. And maybe because I needed to be strong right now.

Klaus had left the room with me noticing it, probably back to his sketching. I smiled a bit to myself as I put a pair of diamond earrings on as I listened to the soft sound of charcoal on paper. It was soothing.

I grabbed a pair of boots, and walked out into the large loft that was our bedroom. Klaus is of course, sprawled on the chaise at one end of the room, holding a complete disregard for the furniture.

“Ready?” I asked impatiently tapping my right boot, which I had just slipped on. He looks up, his eyes bright with creativity and throws the sketchbook to the side hastily as he stands up.

“What is with you and raiding _my_ closet?” He murmured into my ears as he wrapped his arms around me from behind. I giggled, and then whirled around to face him.

“I can’t help it if you have nice vintage pieces.” I told him, worming my way out of his grip and throwing open the door, grabbing my purse and skipping down the stairs.

I nearly crashed into Rebekah who had just emerged from the second floor landing clutching Stefan’s arm and teetering on insanely tall heels. She looked girly cute, in what looked like a tea dress, like what a little girl would wear. It had a full skirt, and the whole thing was printed with little black bowties on a white background.

“Sorry Rebekah!” I laughed, as she sort of fell into me, luckily caught by Stefan. She laughed a bit with me, though still staring at Stefan like he was some god-damn savior. I rolled my eyes and rushed down the rest of the stairs and into the living room.

It’s a disaster zone, as usual. I mean every place that we live, it becomes a tornado of papers, laptops, old coffee cups, and everything making the place look like an entire SWAP team pulled an all-nighter. I however had a hard time taking all the messiness in stride. I liked order, calmness, cleanliness. My house would not be messy.

Sighing, I grabbed a trash bag from the kitchen and started trying to semi-clean the mess.

“What on earth are you doing?” Rebekah asked me, walking into the living room and clearing some space on one of the sofas to sit down.

“Cleaning.” I answered, putting an old Starbucks cup into the trash bag.

“We have maids.” She said, grabbing a hot Starbucks surrounded by the old ones, with lipstick and blood stains on the lids, from the coffee table.

“But I like my house neat.” I said absentmindedly, moving a stack of papers off of a pizza box, presumably Kol’s and wrinkle my nose in disgust.

“ _Your_ house?” Rebekah laughed a bit, not rudely, just amused. I blushed. I suppose it is rather funny, referring to Klaus’s home as mine. I rolled my eyes as she kept giggling and I continued to clean.

“Your brothers are pigs.” I changed the subject, holding up a couple of empty tequila bottles that had been throw recklessly in the corner.

“I don’t think Elijah is.” Katherine’s annoying voice rang from the top of the short flight of steps leading down into the living room.

“No one asked _you.”_ I sneered at her, but of course she ignored me, making herself at home in an armchair. Though she was a major bitch, she looked good, as though her neck had never been snapped. She had changed, obviously, now into a collared black dress, laid over a black floral pattern with a pair of high heels made of… horsehair?

I had always been jealous of doppelganger hair. It was thick and shiny and so unlike my occasionally frizzy unappealing blonde locks. Katherine’s curls were always perfect, and Elena’s as well.

“So how have _you_ survived this long, Caroline?” She asked ignoring me. “Damon likes to kill baby vampires for sport.”

“Some people like me.” I answered, with my teeth gritted. I hate her. I hate her.

“Certainly _Klaus_ does.”

“So what if he does? It’s none of _your_ business.” Rebekah defended me.

“I think it is. I mean I _do_ have Elijah.” She taunted us. Rebekah’s eyes flared.

“You don’t _have_ my brother.” She threatened.

“Why not? Caroline has one of your others. Why can’t I have another?” Katherine was “Katherine-ing” again.

“Because Caroline deserves him.” She retorted. I smiled at Rebekah. She thought I deserved Klaus?

“Just because she’s pregnant? Anyone can get pregnant; I could even get pregnant, if I wanted.” My eyes go wide. Katherine with a child? I laughed.

“No, Caroline deserves him because she makes him a better person. You make Elijah worse.” Rebekah said in a biting tone. Katherine’s face showed a momentary sign of hurt, before returning to her usual mask as Elijah, Klaus, and Stefan walked into the room.

“Hello Ladies and Bitch.” Stefan said, sitting down next to Rebekah on the red couch.

“Real nice Stefan. Just remember you liked me once. Liked me very much.” Katherine pointed out. Stefan wrinkled his nose in disgust.

“Grow up.” He deflected, avoiding Rebekah’s severe glare.

“Behave Katarina.” Elijah scolded her with certain harshness in his voice.

“Or what? You’ll spank me?” She had a dirty gleam in her eye that made the most austere Original shift uncomfortably in his seat. Klaus cleared his throat.

“Why don’t you and Katarina head down to Marcel’s?” Klaus suggested, the dangerous glint coming into his eyes that only happened when he was insanely close to snapping someone’s neck.

Aka, Katherine got on his nerves too.

Elijah offered his hand to Katherine as she took it, letting him pull her to her feet and lead her out the door. As they turned the corner she gave us one last mysterious wink before disappearing from sight.

“Why is she here again?” Rebekah asked Klaus.

“To be our brother’s whore.” Kol said sarcastically, striding into the room.

He was dressed differently than normal. Looking more like his brothers, in a formal suit, but he had an odd necklace on, wooden like Klaus’s. It had strange symbols on it, probably from when they were human and hung instead on under his clothes, as Klaus’s do, it was displayed.

Bonnie trailed behind him, also wearing a necklace. Hers I recognized however. It had been her Grams, an emerald stone handing from a silver pendent. It had been a staple throughout our childhood, a constant victim of our dress up games.

She looked more witch-like than I had ever seen her. She wore a deep green dress, only held up with spaghetti straps, that smelled like earth and the golden belt she wore was interwoven with symbols, glowing faintly in the dying light.

“Thank you Kol.” Rebekah smiled acidly at him.

“I was just saying. It is true.” He said, leaning against the book shelf. Bonnie looked around the room.

“Where’s Damon and Elena? I thought we were in a hurry.”

“Summoning me Witchy dear?” Damon drawled walking into the room, leading Elena by the hand.

Elena of course, looked beautiful. I glared at her short white dress, made to look like something only a Greek Goddess would wear. In short, she looked angelic.

Angel, however, she was not.

Her eyes were still dull with loss of humanity in them, the glimmers of life ever so faint at only certain mentions of key things of human life.

“Good bye.” Bonnie rolled her eyes at Damon, giving him a tiny wave, sassy as Beyonce, and took Kol’s arm, leading him to the garage. A split second later, the rumble of an expensive engine could be heard from outside the doors and the magical pair left us, rushing to something we didn’t fully know.

“Shall we?” I didn’t even realize that Klaus had been offering me his hand. I took it and followed him into the garage.

“What are you driving?” I asked, as he led me down the row of cars. Of course, we didn’t stop at the black SUV, instead going further. He pressed a button on the wall, next to a bare parking space and the floor opened up, a car rising out of the depths.

“The Bugatti.” He said casually as my jaw dropped. Though _I_ didn’t know much about cars, I did know one thing. These things didn’t come cheap. And they were crazy fast too.

Cautiously, I slipped into the passenger seat and he grinned at me. In a second, he sharply reversed the car, and then turned, speeding off into the night.

I giggled and looked at him, cruising down the cobbled streets. His face was alight with boyish excitement, his dimples just poking out.

“You do know you’ll have to get a family car when the baby comes.” I said rather pointedly with one eyebrow raised.

He just grinned at me with a shrug. Guess, that’s not happening?


	25. Family

Bound By Blood

**Chapter XXV: Family**

_First time he kissed me, he but only kissed_

_The fingers of this hand wherewith I write,_

_And ever since it grew more clean and white,..._

_Slow to world-greetings...quick with its “Oh, list,”_

_When the angels speak. A ring of amethyst_

_I could not wear here plainer to my sight,_

_Than that first kiss. The second passed in height_

_The first, and sought the forehead, and half missed,_

_Half falling on the hair. O beyond meed!_

_That was the chrism of love, which love’s own crown,_

_With sanctifying sweetness, did precede._

_The third, upon my lips, was folded down_

_In perfect, purple state! since when, indeed,_

_I have been proud and said, “My Love, my own.”_

_-Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Sonnets from the Portuguese 38: First time he kissed me_

**Caroline POV**

The club was even emptier than yesterday.

No guards stopped us when we walked in, and it looked abandoned.

Elijah and Katherine stood at the railing, him pointing at something and Katherine laughing a bit as Elijah spoke, his eyes twinkling and the corners of his mouth turning up in a slight smile as Katherine giggled.

They stood in front of the “round table” where we sat the night before. Though now it was easier to see the thrones I hadn’t see the night before.

Rebekah’s throne was a deep royal purple, and carved with not the horrible scenes present on her brothers’ chair, but heroic scenes. The carvings, like those of Klaus and Kol, were both fictional and historical, though Rebekah’s were more geared toward heroic women, rather than evil men.

Elijah’s throne was a striking dark green, with his carving being an odd mixture of the heroic, and the villains. I could recognize some scenes from Bible, and a few from famous tales, like King Arthur, but otherwise, like Elijah’s personality, it was a “happy” medium between light and dark.

Kol and Bonnie were nowhere to be found.

Though the others hadn’t known it, Klaus had been racing Stefan and Damon to the bar, though Damon didn’t know where it was.

“Did you lose Kol already?” Klaus called to his brother as he led me into the abandoned club. Elijah rolled his eyes.

“I didn’t lose him. He lost himself. Muttering something about his bloody grimories.” Elijah responded. “He been acting weird lately, don’t you think?”

“Lately? He’s been acting weird for the past thousand years.” Klaus drawled, reaching under the table to open an unseen cabinet, pulling out a bottle of amber alcohol.

Elijah chuckled, a deep resonant tone, and scooted his glass over to where Klaus was pouring himself a glass of bourbon.

I looked off into the distance, staring into the crystal of the chandelier, not wanting to look at anyone at the table. I heard a car door slam, and the deep tones of Stefan’s voice, then followed by the familiar giggle of Rebekah.

You could taste the awkwardness as the pair sat down at the table. Katherine stared at me quizzically, while the pair of brothers tried to melt each other under their own harsh glances. I looked anywhere but.

“Where’s Kol?” Rebekah asked, sitting down at the table. Stefan sat beside her in another chair, looking cautiously at the other occupants of the table.

“That’s been our question for the past thousand years dear sister… I’d assume that he went off to finish what he started earlier with Miss Bennett.” Klaus drawled, breaking his concentration to look at Rebekah with a thoroughly annoyed look.

“He’s probably just getting his damn grimories… Do you remember when we found out he got the gift?” Elijah corrected his siblings, as again Pyscho Killer rang from Stefan’s pocket.

“What?” Stefan snapped into his phone, as the whole table smiled, minus Elijah who looked mildly offended at the song.

“I’m lost.” Damon mumbled into the phone, obviously embarrassed, asking for directions.

“Where are you?” Stefan said, moving away from the table and into a corner to tell his brother where to go. A few minutes later after intent whispering, and one intelligible out burst from Damon, Stefan came back to the table as the last pair entered the bar.

Still no Kol or Bonnie.

I prayed that they were not having sex over a grimorie.

No.

Just no.

*Bound By Blood*

**Bonnie POV**

Kol led me through a marshy area, holding a flashlight in his hand while I clutched the grimorie. Though it was just dusk, under the willows it was already dark. I swore that strange lights twinkled, like sprites leading the way, but I had to be wrong.

All in all, the entire scene fondly reminded me of Princess and the Frog, though I wasn’t terribly keen into getting turned into one, however at times I was tempted to turn Kol.

“Where are we going?” I asked as he helped me over a muddy, bubbling patch of ground. I held up my dress, hiking it up just a little bit above my ankles to prevent it from getting into the mud.

“The witch grounds.” He answers plaintively, though it comes out like an omen.

Soon we reached a clearing whose ground looked and felt solid, an island in the bayou. The scent of magic is in the air, dancing under my nose.

Beginning to trace the symbols in the ground, Kol set down our other things under a massive willow tree, hiding behind its streams of leaves for a brief second. When he emerged, his chest was bare. I blushed, and then scowled at my work, not wanting him to see how blatantly I had been admiring him.

He looked anxious, moving from side to side, messing with his hair every couple of second, or fidgeting with his necklace.

It looked ancient. A thread made of what I thought was leather, hung down, the weight of it coming from a roughly shaped silver medallion, and carved with the strange, familiar symbols of our art.

Right over his heart, lay an old scar, probably from the sword thrust that so violently ended his magical-though human- life. Next to it, carved into his skin as faded white lines, was a symbol of our magic, a pentagram born into our skin.

All those who had the potential to practice were born with them. Mine was incidentally in the exact same place.

I nodded at him once, and he looked at me questioningly. He was scared. I gave him a reassuring smile and he stepped into the circle, lying down on in the center.

I looked down at him for a moment then closed my eyes and began chanting.

*Bound By Blood*

**Caroline POV**

“What do you mean he’s gone?” Klaus yelled at Marcel who didn’t even cower in the slightest under the raging hybrid’s gaze. Gently, I placed a hand on Klaus’s bicep. He realxed a bit, but he still has murder on the mind.

“I mean exactly what I said, Klaus.” Marcel growled right in Klaus’s face. “They went to the room, grabbed a grimorie, and left. He’s _your_ brother; I’m not responsible for keeping track of him.”

Elijah was swearing into his phone, while Rebekah paced the room. They didn’t like not knowing where Kol had gone. Knowing him, it was either rash or dangerous, or both.

“No answer.” Elijah said, his brow creasing as he slammed his phone down on the table.

“You said they took one of his grimories right?” Rebekah asked, an idea forming in her bright blue eyes.

Marcel nodded.

“I think I know where they’re going.” She said. We all whirled to look at her.

*Bound By Blood*

“There’s an old witch ground where Kol used to go when we lived here.” Rebekah lectured as we trampled through the disgusting mud.

Not everyone had come with us. Damon and Elena had “volunteered” to stay behind, while Stefan had been ordered to watch the pair, as they in turn watched the club.

For some reason, Elijah had insisted on bringing Katherine. The doppelganger voiced her concern for her footwear, something Rebekah and I were thinking, but didn’t say, quite loudly, grating on our ears.

Klaus tensed with each passing step, staring into the darkness worriedly. It didn’t help that he already wanted to kill Katherine to begin with, not to mention she was annoying all of us to no end. She and Elijah slowly fell behind us.

I accidentally stepped into another piece of false ground, by foot sinking down into the mud. I squealed a bit. Klaus gave me a look.

I didn’t want to walk anymore, returning his look with one of my own, plainly telling him I wanted to be carried.

He looked at me with an exasperated look and sigh.

“No Caroline.” He told me and kept walking.

“Klaus.” I drew out his name, stomping after him. Rebekah smiled at me, as I rolled my eyes at her brother.

“I am _not_ carrying you, Caroline, so stop begging.” He said, looking back at me, illuminating half of his face in a teasing grin. “Bekah dear, are we close?”

“We’re here.” She sassed back to her brother. However, I didn’t see anything. Klaus and I looked around, as Rebekah rolled her eyes at the both of us, stepping over to a weeping willow and pushing back the curtain of leaves.

So that’s where they went, I thought, as I stared at the flaming pentagram.

*Bound By Blood*

**Bonnie POV**

The spell wasn’t that complex, probably because it was just calling the spirits to do the majority of the work.

Kol stared up at me with wide eyes, blatant in his fear. I moved the pentagram pendent to match up with his mark as I chant.

_Spirituum_

_Benedictio super illum benedictionem tuam_

There wasn’t anything noticeably different with this line, just an introduction.

_Sanguis meus_

I took a silver knife from my side and slit my wrist in a smooth fashion.

My blood drips onto his mark, tainting the silver red.

_Restituendam aciem frangitur_

_Reseras donum_

Kol lets out a gasp, arching his back in pain. Out of the corner of my eyes, I spied the rest of the Original family standing off to the sidelines with their mouths agape.

I wasn’t wrong when I thought that they understood Latin.

Klaus tried to throw himself at the outside of circle, but Caroline held him back, her eyes wide and hair shining gold in the light.

Rebekah had cry perched on her lips as she watched Kol cry out in pain.

Still I continued.

_Quod regnum est posse in hoc_

_Reseras donum_

Power never goes away. I learned that when I “lost” my magic. Nothing ever truly dies, leaves, or disappears.

_Aequalis ad Silam,_

_recludam_

The spell was odd in this way. You can never take away something from nature, though it calls for balance. Vampires were created, though a mistake in Esther’s mind, but they did counter werewolves. The Earth needed to balance this new threat. Silas was loose cannon. Kol had the potential. There were just blockades in the way of getting it out.

_CONPENSO_

_Lucem tenebras_

Kol was no darker than me. There is no darkness without light. Darkness doesn’t mean evil. Darkness merely characterizes what you are, not who you are. Vampires, werewolves, witches, hybrids, all of us are dark creatures, though it doesn’t make you evil.

That’s your own fault.

_Magicae perdita, inventa est iterum_

_Reseras donum_

Blood ran out of my nose, Kol’s eyes became tortured. The flames rose higher.

_Recludam magicis suis_

At the last line, Kol finally screamed, before passing out. He looked so young, like this, minus his wounds. A smile plays on his lips, though his body was covered in blood. Mine and his.

I smiled a bit, before the world became black.

*Bound By Blood*

**Caroline POV**

“Bonnie!” I cried, as the flames died down and she collapsed on top of Kol. I started to rush over to her, but Klaus is already there, bending over his brother’s face, seriously considering, by the look it, slapping him.

I pulled off Bonnie from Kol, whose chest was covered in red, with a circular burn mark over his heart.

“Bon! Bonnie!” I yelled in her face, shaking her. Her eyes fluttered open, and she says wearily.

“Five more minutes, Care.”

Elijah and Katherine had finally gotten here, of course, Elijah carrying her. I shot Klaus a dirty look, though he doesn’t notice, being too busy slapping the shit out of his brother.

Rebekah stood over Kol, screaming at him to wake up.

Surprisingly, he didn’t.

Bonnie however did wake up. Pushing herself up with her left arm, she looked around, searching for the source of the loud noise. When she noticed the Originals, she bolted to her feet, shooing the two siblings away.

“STOP IT!” She yelled at Klaus. I grab his arm, pulling away from his brother. Rebekah looks at the pair on the ground confused, as Bonnie pressed her hands lightly to the mark on Kol’s chest.

When she pulled away, she smiled to herself.

“It worked.” She whispered, tears coming to her eyes. Then she turned to us. “He needs rest.” She told Klaus rather pointedly, clearly indicating _someone_ was going to have to carry him back. He begrudgingly steps forward, and throws his brother’s limp form over his shoulder, grunting a bit.

“What exactly worked?” Elijah asked looked confused at the scene.

“You’ll see.” Bonnie said mysteriously, walking off through the willows into the night.

*Bound By Blood*

**Kol POV**

The last thing I remembered was only a feeling. I had been in deep pain, but the moment when Bonnie finished the incantation, the pain before would have been a welcome friend. My whole body had been on fire, demons circling me.

I couldn’t help screaming.

Then, it was as though chains I didn’t even know were wrapped around me had fallen away, broken.

I must have passed out, for where I was right now looked a lot like… well nothing.

Nothing was concrete, all just white smoke. I looked down, noticing that I was merely a wraith, with no corporal form. Odd… Was I dead?

“Kol.” My mother’s clear voice echoed behind me. I didn’t turn.

“Kol.” She repeated louder, placing a hand on my shoulder. I whirled ferociously, to swipe her hand off of me.

“Get off.” I growled in her face. She appeared stunned.

“Now Kol…. I don’t expect that from someone of such power…” I cut her off, hating her sentimental motherly tone. She had no right to that. She was the farthest thing from mother of the year.

“You have no right to expect anything from me. The moment you turned us, you lost your right as our mother….” I trailed off however, considering what she just said. Power?

“I’ll be seeing you.” She said ominously, fading into the white fog which covered my feet. Shit. She planned on coming back.

Suddenly, my world turned vertical, making me fall into the white smoke. A pain abruptly came behind my eyes, and I squeezed them, wanting to massage it.

Someone is already doing it for me. I try to open my eyes, but they are glued together. I groan.

“Shhhh.” I immediately recognized Bonnie’s voice, and her finger pressed to my lips, while her other hand ran itself through my hair with a mind of its own. “It’s ok.”

“Did it work?” I muttered, my lips still mainly blocked by her finger. She removeed it and I manage to open my eyes.

Her hair was still up, a few curls hanging down her face, barely touching mine, realizing our proximity. The myriad of colors that her eyes shone with was endless, as though she couldn’t contain her…. Happiness. Every so often, a flash of white would appear against her coffee skin.

She nodded, a curl just touching my eyelashes.

We grinned at each other.

“Try something.” She urged me, as I pulled myself up. I looked around the room, searching for something to do. I hadn’t spent a thousand years studying grimories for nothing.

Looking down at my chest, staring at the only thing that had been with me all of my thousand years.

All of us had a totem. It had been a custom in our village, a way of coming of age. At 16, we all got a talisman, in the form of an animal representing our self, charmed to keep us from harm. It made sense. Sixteen was the first time we were truly allowed to leave the village, to hunt, to gather, to play.

Finn, of course, was the first to receive his. Our mother didn’t make them, however, Ayanna made them for us. Something about a mother not being able to judge her child. How wrong she would be…

I had watched with eleven year old eyes, as my eldest brother stood in the ring of fire and had been handed his necklace. Finn had been lucky. A horse was a good symbol in our world.

When Elijah had gotten his, luck was on his side as well. Tigers made our father proud.

Nik had been nervous, however, when he got his. I remember him running off into the woods earlier that day to vomit, just from nerves alone. You couldn’t change, your totem branded you forever.

That night everything changed. I had never seen Nik so scared, when Ayanna handed him a necklace with the distinct shape of a wolf.

Father had been livid. The moment the rest of the villagers left, he was on Nik, beating him bloody. And Nik did nothing. Couldn’t do anything.

I had been only fourteen, and yet, I knew that Nik was going to die even though he had been beaten a thousand times before. I didn’t even know what I did. I just put my hand and yelled “NO!” at my father and somehow, he was thrown back, all the way to the tree line.

My siblings had rushed to get the bloody body that was my brother off the ground; I stared blankly at my hand. My mother just stared at me. I was unexpected. I knew that she fully had expected, hoped, and wanted Rebekah to inherit the family gift.

My father was out cold, so I ran.

Later he had caught me and beat me until I was black and blue.

He did so for the next two years, before I became of age, trying to beat the magic out of me. My mother refused to teach me. I felt like an outcast in my own family. Bekah hated me. Oddly enough, Nik was the only one who semi-accepted me. Maybe partly because Mikael alternated our beatings.

Going secretly to Ayanna became what I lived for. All I had was my magic. Though it resulted in scars and bruises, it kept my mind.

When I got my own ceremony, I again shamed my family. A coyote was not a noble animal. They were the trickster, and in their own way, magic.

I brought myself back, gripping the dog-like wooden animal whose face was set in a lopsided grin. Taking a deep breath, closing my eyes, and whispering a couple of ancient Chinese words. Not all spells were in Latin, only those that were serious. But, this particular one was fun. Animating objects.

I felt the surge, wanting to cry of joy as I heard the howl of the miniature coyote. Bonnie looked at me in awe, wonder, and excitement as the puny hunter stalked on the coverlet of the bed.

As we stared at it, she giggles. Her laugh was infectious, somewhere in between a tinkling bell and an warbling bird call.

Suddenly, I don’t even realize what I’m doing anymore. Thanking her? Anyway, I smashed my lips onto her still giggling mouth. She responded instantly and with equally heated fervor. Both of us were so lost in the excitement and joy that we forgot ourselves.

*Bound By Blood*

**Klaus POV**

I paced the length of my loft, looking every few seconds down to the levels below, straining to hear my younger brother’s annoying voice.

Caroline laid on the bed on her stomach, but not directly, twisting a bit so her bump jutted out to the side, with a silver Macbook in front of her. Every few minutes she would give me a look, then just continued browsing.

I walked over to the canvas in the corner for a second, as the lower floors were still mostly silent, being as the rest of our mangled family had returned to Marcel’s.

I had only half started the painting, merely just dark colors spattered on a white canvas. However, I’m bored with it.

Ripping the canvas down with a vengeance, I toss it in the corner and put a new one up, flipping through my sketchbook. Caroline, Caroline, Caroline. I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do… Oddly, every sketch captured my imagination, make me want to bring color to the drawing, breathe life into the angel on the page.

I hadn’t realized the real angel had crept up behind me, however.

“You’re a stalker.” She giggled into my ear, weaving her arms around me.

“I prefer to say I merely appreciate your beauty.” Her smell invaded my senses, intoxicating my mind and making all I could think of was her. How her blonde curls fell on my shoulder, how her eyelashes just barely tickled my neck, how her laughter made me want to pick her up and never let go. She made me weak.

“Still you’re a stalker.” She laughed, throwing herself back on the bed and shutting the laptop with her foot, giving me an excellent view of her white lacy undergarments.

She wore white tonight. A silk gown, reaching just a bit above her knees, and did little to hide her cleavage.

Sighing and shifting a bit uncomfortably, I laid down beside her, facing towards her as she did me, though she doesn’t look at me, instead moving her hand compulsively over her stomach with a slightly mysterious smile on her face. I just stared at her. She gasped slightly, then grabbed my hand.

“What?” I asked, as her excitement radiated off of her in waves, pressing my hand to her stomach.

“Feel.” She ordered.

I stared at her incredulously, not feeling anything…. at first. Ever so slightly, there was movement in there.

“See that’s _our_ baby in there…” She rapidly spoke excitedly, her smile nearly taking up her whole face. I just looked at where my hand lay with wide eyes, my mouth agape. Her eyes sparkled.

I stunned myself, feeling salty tears rise to my eyes threatening to spill over.

“He’s strong.” I choked out, clearing my throat, as a particularly strong kick comes from the stomach. Caroline made a gasp, and then looked at me incredulously.

“He? How are you so sure it’s a boy?”

“Alpha male?” I said confidently, giving her an equally incredulous glance.

“But, you’re _my_ Alpha Male.” She said nuzzling my neck. Was it true that pregnant women were hornier? The familial moment had turned into a thick sexual one in a second.

Growling a bit, her human teeth nipped at my neck, careful not to draw blood. My eyes alight with renewed vigor as I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her under me.

Straggled her, I ran my hands down her sides as she wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me down to her lips. They were sweet, vaguely tasting of her minty toothpaste, with our teeth clinking together a bit as we opened our mouths, allowing our tongues to meet. Her hands moved from my neck up to my hair, weaving through it, messing with the already unruly curls.

“Caroline.” I draw out her name in a groan, making the “C” of her melodic name sound like my “K.” She gasps slightly into my mouth and begins to work my shirt up, finally pulling it off my head.

I pull back for a second and regard her perfect body, clothed down in white. In a sudden compulsion, a want to see the fully unclothed version of it anyways, I rip her gown down the front.

“Klaus.” She moaned as I plunged back down. Her hands went immediately to my boxers, tearing them off as I had done to her gown. In my rush, I did the same to her thin lacy panties. Finally freed from clothes, I slid into her, pressing my hands on either side of her head. Thrusting into her, grunting into her ear, mine over and over again.

*Bound By Blood*

**Caroline POV**

I just laid there, still naked and sweaty, while Klaus had gotten up and now dug through his closet for something to wear. According to him, his siblings didn’t have a habit of knocking.

I rolled over to my side, and used the sheet to cover up my chest as he strode back in the room, redressed in a pair of boxers and paint stained t-shirt, then walked towards the door.

“Where are you going?” He turned to look at me, opening the door.

“Listen.” He said, pointing downward. Laughing. As he leaves the room, I rushed behind him, pulling on a shirt of his as I go.

“WHAT THE HELL?” I heard Klaus yell, standing at the doorway of Kol’s room before falling to his knees with the pain of an aneurysm.

“BONNIE!” I cried out, rushing to Klaus’s side; however Bonnie looks just as stunned as I did. Kol grinned with child-like delight with his hand up, controlling Klaus’s pain. Bonnie smacked him on the side of the head, breaking his concentration. When he recovered, Klaus still limp on the ground; the younger brother got off the bed and stood over him.

“And that is for daggering me, big bro.”

Kol looked different, somehow, though I only seen him a couple of hours previous. His eyes had a renewed light; similar to his old youthful light, but no longer beyond the light was there a broken pain. It had been sewn together, by the light radiating from his hand.

Klaus pulled himself up, and stared at his brother astonished.

“So that’s what the ritual did.” He finally said, regaining his calm demeanor. “How? You are technically still dead. Aren’t you?”

Klaus sat down in an armchair in the “library” nook of the room, helping himself to a glass of bourbon in a crystalline decanter.

Kol walked over to sit in the chair opposite his brother, grabbing a glass and silver knife from the table. He slit his hand with no sound of pain, then holding it up for us to see it knit itself back together.

“Guess you’re not the only Mikaelson hybrid anymore, brother.” Klaus’s mouth seemed to permanently gape open. I put my hand gently under his chin, shutting it. He just changed it to a childish pout.

The men sat and drank silently, as Bonnie slipped into the bathroom, still staring at each other. Kol, impishly, Klaus, in an expression of jealousy and joy.

“Did anything happen when you were under, dear brother?” Klaus asked with one eyebrow raised. Kol shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I know that you didn’t get this idea to try and renew your powers all on your own. Pray tell, who planted this idea in your head?”

“Ayanna.”

“Ah… Your companion in our human years… Tell me, wherever did she hide this particular spell?”

“In her grimorie, where else?”

“So what was the whole purpose of this? It wasn’t just to indulge some whim.” Kol paused for a moment. Looking at the man’s eyes, he looked scared. He didn’t know what it was. Suddenly, light came to his eyes.

“Well then, Ayanna is having fun planting pieces of information in my head.”

*Bound By Blood*

Getting everyone here was another challenge altogether. Elijah and Katherine had been the first to walk through the doors, oddly clashing with our little quartet in pajamas in Elijah’s ever formal suit and Katherine’s party dress.

Stefan and Rebekah stumbled inside next, both a bit tipsy. And of course, Elena dragged in drop-dead drunk Damon.

“What in the hell is going on?” he slurred, as Elena pushed him onto a couch as Stefan crept up behind him with a bucket of water.

“Sober up, Damon.” Stefan gleefully said, pouring the ice cold bucket. Damon gasped, his vampire face coming out as he snarls at his younger brother. Stefan shrugged, putting the bucket down behind the couch, and sitting down next to Rebekah. Damon accepted a blood bag from Elena.

“So, why did you ruin our night?” Katherine tossed her hair. Kol smirked at her, holding out his hand. Katherine grips her head with a cry.

Everyone stared at Kol, who smirked.

“Kol… How?” Rebekah’s eyebrows were raised in…. jealousy.

“A fairy godmother.” He drawled sarcastically, making “eyes” at Bonnie.

“Could someone please tell me why my serious drinking was interrupted? So Bonnie threw a couple of party tricks?” Damon challenged. Kol thrust his hand out and Damon crumbled.

“Ok, ok, calm down Gandalf.” He grunted, getting back on the couch next to Elena.

“So what are we doing? A showcase, tell us what Ayanna told you.” Klaus tapped his fingers impatiently. Kol got up, walked over to the large coffee table where a map of the world lay. He picked up a pen and began marking places on there. Klaus and I got up to join him and Bonnie, who clutched his arm. I began to notice a pattern.

“Battle sights? Explain.” Klaus ordered. The rest of our ragtag group had joined us around the map. Kol set down the marker and pointed at Paris.

“Silas wasn’t able to fully drop the Other Side. He needed Bonnie. Anyways, there’s now… tears in it, places associated with blood. Where else would they go?”

“So why aren’t there people spilling out of there?” Stefan asked, taking the marker to mark a couple more places.

“That’s the other part. You need a spell to open it, and someone with a connection to the spirit. And I just happen to have both. Though, I’d rather do it somewhere in Europe. I managed to get a peek into the inner workings of our dear friend Silas’s mind. He’s a couple of hours out, eight at the most.” I looked at Klaus in fear. He gave me a look. We were leaving. Now.

*Bound By Blood*

Klaus and I worked in tandem in the closet, shoving everything we could into trunks. He attempted to get as many of his art supplies and books in suitcases as he could, while he yelled at various different people on the phone. First it was Marcel, then the pilot, then some Frenchman, and then Marcel again.

I managed to put most of my closet in a couple of steamer trunks, plus all the jewelry here.  I hadn’t wanted to at first, but Klaus—being Klaus—had convinced me otherwise. Apparently, Queens need jewelry.

As the man in question was paying more attention to the tools of his hobbies, then his clothing, I pulled the dark leather suitcase out from under his suits to pack for him. Smiling to myself, I began to go through the things I assumed he needed, and the things he didn’t. As I shut the case, I tried to grab our luggage to the door, but Klaus was already there, picking it up as though it weighed nothing.

“Don’t over exert yourself, love.” He sped off down the stairs with the case; I went through the smaller bag for the plane. Pajamas for both of us, check. Extra clothes, some for Klaus and some for me, check. Make-up, check. Magazines, check. Phone, check. Laptop, check. And at the very bottom, the few parenting books I had bought in the little time I had had to myself.

I didn’t even notice him re-enter the room.

“Come on, Caroline.” He said, taking the last trunk and motioning me to come along. I took one last look at the place before following him.

Trunks littered the entry way. Not just our own, but the rest of the family. Rebekah sat on one of them checking her nails, while Stefan leaning against her, tapping out something on his phone.

“Rebekah this can’t be all your shit.” Klaus said, kicking a couple of the trunks. Kol immediately rushed out with yet another trunk.

“Don’t touch those!” He yelled at his brother.

“Damn Kol are all these grimories?” Klaus asked, throwing open one of them to view the old books. “Did you pack your whole bloody collection?”

“Only the best ones… You know I have thousands.” Kol opened the case Klaus had kicked, checking each other the musty smelling books.

“And how do you expect us to take all these to the runway?” Elijah asked, carrying a pair of slim black suitcases into the foyer. Klaus gave him a look.

“The SUV, dumbass. Start living in this century.” Klaus snorted and walked out to the garage. I slumped down on one of the cases, looking through my phone. I hovered over my mom’s name in my contacts, contemplating if I should call her. But, she probably was working a night shift. And if she tried to call me back, I’d be thousands of feet in the air.

I settled on checking Facebook, looking through the “happy times” that everyone else back home was having. Matt had been crowned Prom King. I smiled wistfully at the picture, remembering that I had wanted, more than anything, to wear that crown just over a year ago. I still did. Except, I looked at those pictures, the girls with the joy in their eyes, the innocence, and I realized, I couldn’t go back. Not like this. They still knew me as innocent Caroline, head cheerleader Caroline, not Vampire Caroline, and certainly Pregnant Caroline.

I didn’t realize Bonnie had come up behind me.

“Care? We’re leaving.” She said gently. I swore, what was with everyone here treating me like a god-damn doll? I rolled my eyes at her, and stomped off to the circular drive where Klaus waited in the SUV. I look back on the house once, and smiled at the odd scene.

“See you in the air.”

*Bound By Blood*

The jet black plane stood waiting on the barren runway. Klaus pulled up beside it, near a white flight of stairs leading into the depths. It was small, and defiantly private, noted by the gold-painted M1.

Klaus got out, smiling and shook hands with a capped man in a sleek black uniform. He motioned to the back of the car, and then walked back to my side of the SUV, opening the door for me and taking the bag at my feet.

“Come on Caroline.” He said as the caravan of cars pulled up behind us. Gentlemanly, he took my hand, helping me up the stairs, though I clearly did not need it.

The interior screamed money, as everything that Klaus touched did. Paneled in oak, with freaking monogrammed wallpaper, it looked like a cross between the Star Trek command center and a Tony Stark technological baby. I couldn’t decide what the table was in the middle, but it shined a soft blue light of a computer. The sides were paneled into compartments, closed off with those same faux oak doors as the rest of the cabin. Klaus opened the first one, pushing back the sectioning. Just a pair of seats, though they had an enormous amount of room at the front and at the back. He placed the suitcase down on the floor and turned the chair towards the center.

I sat down, as he busied himself at a bar in the back and just looked around at the rest of our little ragtag group. Choosing compartments, which were arranged in twos, went with the seemingly usual pairings. Klaus and I, Elijah and Katherine, Kol and Bonnie, Stefan and Rebekah, Damon and Elena. I really had no idea why we always paired up like this. Sexual partners? No, Damon had slept with nearly every one of the girls here, excluding Bonnie. Stefan had a good record too.  We challenged each other, brought out the good in the evil, encouraged each other.

“So what’s the plan?” Stefan asked dumping his bag in the compartment across from me.

“Don’t ask me.” Klaus came back with a bottle sitting down next to me and tapping the table that ran down the middle of the room.

“Kol, do you have the map?” He ordered and Bonnie rummaged around in their own bag, pulling out the map and laying it on the table. Klaus tapped it once, and then shoved it out of the way, a blue copy appearing on the screen.

“Here’s what we’ve got.” He said, starting to tap out things. “Silas is currently here” He put a red dot outside of New Orleans. “Found here, and temporarily was here.” He placed two smaller red triangles on the Island and Mystic Falls. “Where did your cousin live, Bonnie?”

 “Nashville” He places another dot there. “So he opened up the other side about here… Who _can_ he bring back?” Elijah traced a line from Tennesse all the way to New Orleans. No battle sites.

“There are other places besides battle sites you know.” Damon said. “Massacres, genocides, rebellions.” He marked several on the map.

“So where are we going?” Kol asked, setting down his bourbon on the table and bending over it. “The bloodier the better.”

“Why not try those disgusting trenches? They should be bloody enough.” Klaus recommended. I felt the plane slowly roll, beginning take off, and I laid back, listening to the voices around me.

*Bound By Blood*

When I woke up, the lights glittered below. I looked around the rest of cabin sleepily. Klaus slept quickly beside me, his sketchbook softly pressed against his chest. I reached into the bag and pulled out a cashmere blanket, wrapping it around him and pulling his sketchbook away from his clutches. I examined it. It’s brand-new, only about half-full. Mostly of me, though the striking family portrait on page five is my favorite. Only in black and white, it captures our family in one stroke. Rebekah definitely looking at the artist, Stefan by her side, his hand just raised in a drink of bourbon, while Elijah stared almost condescendingly at Klaus of course being the one who drew it, not pictured, Kol laughing about something, his eyes glinting at Bonnie, who giggled with him. Only half in the picture is me, blonde hair flying away from my face, which is set is a sort of queenly look that somehow made me actually look… beautiful. Klaus’s hand rests on my stomach.

I was tempted to tear it out, keep it with my collection of pictures and drawing that now picture out my life. But, better to wait to ask the artist himself.

I dug around in the bag for the pajamas I brought, as I silently stepped over Klaus with them, careful not to wake the sleeping hybrid.

The bathroom wasn’t like a normal airplane bathroom. For one, it was large, with fogged glass. I quickly slipped on Klaus’s overlarge t-shirt and the pair of sweatpants. When I return to our compartment, Klaus is still asleep though I hear voices.

“What now, Katarina? After you retrieve the cure?” Elijah’s soft formal voice lilted quietly in that special tone he saved only for Katherine.  “Going to disappear again?”

“I only disappear in self-defense. I _love_ you, Elijah.” Katherine pleaded. I felt as though I was intruding on something secret, something that I shouldn’t hear, though I couldn’t turn away. Their relationship intrigued me.

“I cannot be swayed so easily.” Elijah’s voice was hard, much like Klaus’s defense mechanism.

“I have wasted so much of my life, running. Elijah…”

“I have duties. My family…”

“It’s time you stopped living your family adventures and start living your own.”

“My family is my greatest adventure.”

“Then let me join you. Please, Elijah. You saw what happened between Caroline and Klaus. You and I, all we’ve ever wanted is family.”

Elijah exhaled, sounding like his head was in his hands. “What exactly do you want Katarina?”

“Our family.” She said with finality, and I heard her get up, pushing the separator back.

Sighing, I snuggled into Klaus, closing my eyes, breathing in his scent. At night, in sleep, there was no worries, no Cure, no psychopath hunting us. Just our family.

*Bound By Blood*

“Oh hell.” I muttered to myself, bolting over Klaus to get to the bathroom. At least I was thinking, though it was 6 AM, and ran to the one near the cockpit, leaving the larger one for the rest of our party.

Vomiting was not pleasant, especially at 23,000 feet. And on a dirty airplane floor, even though this was a private plane.

When I finished, I rinse my mouth, staring at myself in the mirror. I looked terrible, to say the least. Baby bump poking out, hair in a million different directions, and the dark bags under my eyes stretching on for ages, I tried to smile at my disappointing reflection. Trudging out, I tried to return to bed, not even thinking when I crawled over Klaus to return to my “spot.”

“Caroline?” He said his British accent thicker than ever as he stared sleepily at me.

“Go back to sleep Klaus.” I mumbled, setting my head gently on his chest. His arm went automatically around me, pulling me into him. I wanted to go back to sleep, his arms so comforting, so warm. However, as I try and fall back into the ocean of dreams, rays of light from the blocked window begin to come in. Burying my face further into Klaus’s chest, I try and avoid them, though my stomach prohibits me from escaping them.

With a frustrated growl, I sat up, pushing back the blanket and pulling up the bag onto my lap. Klaus made a grunting sound, throwing a pillow over his eyes. I rolled mine, searching through the bag for my clothes and make-up bag. Victorious, I hold up the dress I had brought along with my Vera Bradley make-up bag. I smiled at Klaus as I slipped into the bathroom.

Though it was seven o’clock, everyone else slumbered on, as I wriggled into the lacey orange tunic I had brought, and quickly did my make-up. When I emerged, everyone of course is still asleep. I rolled my eyes.

“Alright, everybody up!” I said, as bright and chipper as I can manage. I mean come on; I was the pregnant one, the hormonal one, the I-got-up-at-6-puking one.

I heared simultaneous groans and growls from the populace of the cabin.

“Get off of me!” Bonnie shrieked from her compartment and a thump came moments later, spilling one sleepy Kol Mikaelson out into the aisle.

Damon made some comment into his pillow, as Katherine poked her head out and gave me the death glare through her less than perfect curls.

“Five more minutes” Klaus mumbled into his pillow as I gently shook him.

“Klaus…. No.” I said in the nicest way possible. When he makes no move to get up, I pulled the blanket off of him, mistakenly taking the Original Hybrid to the ground as well to join his brother.

“Damn.” He muttered, and then slowly started to get up though his younger brother refuses to move at all. Bonnie poked her head and regarded the man on the floor.

“Kol.” She said, poking him rather hard in the back. He made a slight groan into the ground. Rebekah climbed out of her compartment, revealing a still sleeping Stefan, with a bag and purposefully walked to the back, stepping on Kol’s back. He grunted, and then got up, giving his sister the death glare.

I began organizing as everyone began to get up, folding the sleeping thing away into the small cabinets in the front. As Klaus messed with the coffeemaker, I went through the bag, laying out a suit for him on his chair.

Elijah joined his brother at the bar, dressed in silk pajamas monogrammed with the signature “EM.”

“When are we landing?” Damon asked irritably, pouring some sort of alcohol into his porcelain mug of coffee.

“Eleven for our current schedule, though Parisian time? Around Six.” Klaus answered, staring out the window, then reaching down, as though remembering something, and opened the fridge, throwing me a blood bag.

I ripped off the top, and took it all in in just one drink. Did this baby make me hungrier? I walked over to the fridge and pull out another one.

“Hey, hey, hey cool it Blondie. The rest of us need to eat as well.” Damon said. Stefan rolled his eyes at his brother.

“Eating for two, idiot.” I spat in his face, downing the second blood bag. Klaus’s eyes danced with mirth. Rebekah came out of the bathroom, dressed in a pair of white jeans, wedges, and a blue top that make her blonde hair look whiter than ever, caught in a mermaid-ish braid. Elena, who I hadn’t even notice get up, ran for the bathroom next.

I started trying to fix my hair in the laptop screen, though it’s utterly impossible today, a wild mess of curls. Rebekah comes up behind me.

“Here.” She said, taking my brush from me, running it through my hair and starting to braid, twist, pin it into something near manageable.

When she was done, I checked myself out in the laptop screen. Pretty, simple, a big bun at the top of my head with a small French braid running the crown.

“Thanks Bekah.” I told her, giving her a grin. “Klaus come here.” I held up his suit. He gave me a look, though he set down his coffee and came over. I shut the compartment door and took off his shirt for him, as he worked his way out of his pants. I helped him slip into the white dress shirt, while he put on the slacks, and I buttoned up his shirt.

“Tie or no tie?” I asked, holding up a dark navy one in one hand and an orange one to match my dress. He shook his head, pulling on the suit jacket, and walking out into the aisle again, raising up the table as he went.

He took something out of his jacket pocket throwing them on the table.

“Fake ID’s? Really brother?” Elijah asked, picking up one and opening it. They looked pretty standard, the new dark blue of the passport shiny as the pages inside.

I pick up one of them. By sheer luck, it happens to mine, though it’s only _my_ face.

“Carolina Mykelson? Seriously Klaus, I thought artists were creative.” Klaus’s read Nik Mykelson, married to me no surprise. Elijah, Elias Mykelson, Kol, Klemens Mykelson, Rebekah, Rachel Mykelson. Surprisingly, he had had fakes made more the rest of us.

Elena and Katherine were ironically sisters, Elaine and Katya Petra.

Damon and Stefan still were siblings, Damien and Steven Saltorian.

Bonnie- Babette Benné.

Everyone grabbed theirs, flipping through it. Katherine gave a sound of disgust at the relation between her and Elena, stalking off to the bathroom with it.

I smiled to myself as I laid back in my seat pulling out one of my parenting books and began to read.

*Bound By Blood*

As we began to descend, I didn’t even notice Klaus sit in the chair next to me.

“What are you reading love?”  He asked, trying to look at the cover. I put it under the table, smiling nervously at him.

“Nothing.” I said almost a little too hurriedly. He gave me a smirk, taking the book from my hands. He frowned at the cover.

“What to Expect when You’re Expecting?” he said rather confused.

“It’s a pregnancy book. There’s a movie based on it.” I giggled, snatching it back from him.

“Please don’t tell me you’re going to make me watch it…” He whined, pulling out his sketchbook.

“Do you know anything about babies? You might need to do just a bit of homework.” I handed him one of the heavier books about children after birth. Quite frankly, he wasn’t the one that needed to know what was going on inside of me _right now_. Baby steps…

He gave the book a completely confusing look then opened it with a determined one. I smiled turning back to mine.

*Bound By Blood*

The runway was sort of bare, with a long black limo waiting for us at the bottom of the steps. A chauffeur waited at the doors, and two men in what looked like customs officers uniforms stood impatiently at the bottom of the steps.

“Let me go first.” Klaus stopped me with his hand, hurrying down the stairs. Amiably he shook the two officials’ hands, chatting in French. I marched back into the cabin to get my stuff.

All of the guys in our “company” wore suits, all of them without ties except for of course Elijah.

“Come on.” I said, picking up the bag. For the last hour, surprisingly, Klaus had just sat there and read. It had been a bit uncomfortable, with me glancing up every five seconds, waiting for him to get frustrated and just throw the book away, but he didn’t. No, he wanted this. I guess somewhere, deep down, he wanted this baby, this family.

I walked back out onto the stairs where the chauffeur was already loading a second car with our sheer amount of luggage. Klaus was shaking hands with the immigration officials, and they walked off while he waved us over. As I jumped over, he took the bag, giving me a surprising kiss on the lips.

“Told you I’d take you to Paris one day, love.” I giggled, meeting his lips again.

“Hey, cool it lovebirds.” Kol yelled, slapping his brother on the back, pulling Bonnie along to the car. We break apart, still grinning at each other and head for the car.

*Bound By Blood*

I stared out at the window, staring at the landmarks. As we passed the glass pyramid of the Louvre, Kol and Rebekah were arguing over how late the shops of Champs d’Elyesses were open. When I caught the glimpse of the Arc d’Triompe, Katherine was again making snarky comments. Quickly, Elijah intervened before Klaus snapped her neck. I paid no attention to the arguments. After that little spat, Klaus resided to looking out the window with me, telling little bits about every corner. In every ally way, he had a story. Countless centuries of tales, adding color to the cobbled streets.

“We’re here love.”  He whispered into my ear, as the chauffeur pulled into a courtyard of a grey stone building. It was old with classic looking glass windows set in three rows, though no clear doors on this side of the house, only a huge set of archaic double doors. They opened with a metal grill and came up as well, like that of a dungeon.

The courtyard was well lit, with old looking flame lamps and gray cobblestones, with black painted doors on each side, except for one that obviously contained the garage. It was surprising, to have such a large house in the heart of one of the most expensive cities on Earth, but then again, Klaus had probably seen the city’s founding.

He helped me out of the car, motioning to the car behind us carrying our luggage to unload, and lead me to the door, opening it. The entire first floor is formal, the door opening into a small hall in between a receiving room and what looked like a formal parlor. I had studied enough about French society to know that this floor of the house would be the “entertaining” part of the home. The real personality must be in the upper floors.

He opened a panel in the dark wall, leading up a well-lit staircase that looked so unlike the other rooms, this staircase wasn’t dusty and musty like those rooms.

When we reach the top, Klaus threw open the door with a flourish. I gasped, the twinkling lights of the city shining through the wall of glass facing out. Not too far in the distance, the familiar metal structure of the Eiffel Tower rose, light up like a Christmas tree.

He didn’t even flick on the lights, just set our smaller bag down on one of the couches, letting me look out at the city. Coming up behind me, he wrapped his arms around my waist drawing me into him.

“I assume by your silence, that you enjoy the view.” He whispered into my neck, gently rocking me back and front. I could hear commotion downstairs, the ever arguing of our dysfunctional circle of friends and family, the dropping of bags, the slamming of doors. But for this instance, it was just Klaus and I.

“You know, when you promised to take me here I thought you were joking. Now seeing it for real… It’s a dream come true.” I turned to face him, bringing my arms to loop around his neck. His breath catches as our blue eyes meet and I leaned in, standing on the tops of my toes to compensate for my shortness.

The kiss is sweet, no tongue, but only two pairs of lips pressing against each other. I stared up at him, his eyes closing leaning into me more, arms wrapping around my waist as mine hang on his neck. My stomach gets in the way of us meshing together totally, but in the same regard, it feels right.

Our family, all together.

**Wow! Extra long chapter, but I hope all of y’all liked it!**

**Translation of Bonnie’s Spell:**

**_Spirits_ **

**_Blessing be upon him, your blessing_ **

**_My Blood_ **

**_Restore the line broken_ **

**_Unlock the gift_ **

**_Power equal to that which exists already in this realm_ **

**_Unlock the gift_ **

**_Equal to Silas_ **

**_Unlock_ **

**_Counterbalance_ **

**_Light for Darkness_ **

**_Magic lost, found again_ **

**_Unlock the gift_ **

**_Unlock his magic_ **

**Please, please, please review, honestly it’s my lifeblood!**


	26. Little Moments

**Let’s see if anyone can pick up on the Doctor Who and Supernatural reference ;)**

**-xoxo Katarhyne**

Bound By Blood

**Chapter XXVI: Little Moments**

_I do not love you as if you were a salt rose, or topaz_

_or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off._

_I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,_

_in secret, between the shadow and the soul._

_I love you as the plant that never blooms_

_but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;_

_thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,_

_risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body._

_I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where._

_I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;_

_So I love you because I know no other way_

_than this: where I does not exist, nor you,_

_so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,_

_so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep._

_-Pablo Neruda, Love Sonnet XVII_

**Caroline POV**

I didn’t remember going to bed. Though, somewhere in my semi-conscious state, I took in a dark room, where I slumbered, my head on Klaus’s chest. I knew I was going to have to puke relatively soon, yet, I had no idea where on earth the bathroom was.

Groaning inwardly in my head, I nuzzled into his chest, my arms hooked around his neck. Opening my eyes, I looked around, noting the time of 10 AM. Why wasn’t I throwing up by now?

Only then, do I remember the time difference, letting my head crash down back onto his hard chest. He grunted slightly, as though in pain, his eyes snapping open.

“Stupid time zones.” I muttered under my breath. His arms, which had been around me, came up a bit, revealing his amused but tired look.

“Care to elaborate?” I gave him a look.

“I literally now have a reflex telling me it’s time to puke. Do you want to know how fucking annoying that-?” I trailed off, as though as soon as I said it, my body responded. I hurriedly looked around, spying a pair of black painted doors that blended into the brick walls. Vamp-speeding over to them, I made a dive for the water closet, barely making it to the toilet.

“Damn.” I say between my vomiting. Klaus, of course, doesn’t even make a move to help me, as though this was normal. Technically I had only been doing this for about a week. A crazy week, but still.

When I finished and stepped back into the bedroom, Klaus had thrown open the curtains and opened the doors to the balcony. I squinted from the suddenly bright light and go out to join him in the view over Paris. For the first time, I can truly see the skyline, with its trademark landmarks along with those old homes that looked like something right out of Les Miserables.

“When I first bought this house it was all wealthy mansions as far as the eye could see. Not saying all this” he said, gesturing to the quite different landscape from an artistocrats’ playground. “is worse, but it’s quite different from the last time Rebekah saw Paris. It was her favorite city, you know.”

“Do all of you have one?”

“Of course. I have more of a connection to Italy, Florence, Rome, Venice. Elijah has always catered to London. And Kol…. Kol goes where the magic blows him. Timbuktu, Granada, Constantinople, India, Peking, Kyoto, Kingston, New Orleans. He always boasted about being the first of us to venture to the East. Then again, I never cared for Asian cuisine.”

“Why do you like Italy?” His words echoed in my head from the Mikaelson ball so long ago. Rome, Paris, Tokyo. Promising to take me there. And apparently, this hybrid held this, as I was standing out looking at the Eiffel Tower.

“Art.” Of course it always went back to that. I glanced back slightly into the room, taking another glimpse of the modern art covering the walls.

“Did you do all the ones in here?” He gave me an “of course” look and I walked back in to admire the one above the bed. He followed me.

I ran my hand over the textured red and black paint, the weight of my stomach made me go forward a bit, his arms wrapped around me, holding me.

“Another expression of post modernism?” I joked. “It resembles the snowflake.”

He sighed exasperatedly. “It’s not a snowflake, it’s _Winter Wrath._ ”

“Snowflake.” I countered. Stefan thought it was a snowflake, I thought it was a snowflake. Clearly to everyone that didn’t have an ‘artsy’ eye, it was a snowflake.

“What am I doing to do with you, Caroline?” He grumbled, pressing his hot lips to my neck from behind. Giggling, I brought my hands down to his on my hips. Traveling upward with his lips, he finally met mine from the side turning me then towards him. For a second we looked at each other with our noses touching, smiling. Then, of course the door opened with a bang.

“Nik, where did you hide all my grimories, I know I left about thirty in the…” Kol walked in with the ever present Bonnie following him, reading a leather bound book as she walked. Kol stopped dead in his tracks the moment he sees what position we were in, Bonnie running into him.

“Hey, watch it.” She said irritably, getting ready to hit him with the book. She then noticed us.

“Well big brother, isn’t it a bit early for that.” He said bemused. Klaus threw a pillow at him, which Kol easily dodges, sitting down on the edge of the bed.  “Where did you hide my grimories?”

“How about we do this _later_ Kol?” Bonnie pleaded, tugging on his arm, noticing Klaus’s eyes going slightly yellow. I put my arm on his bicep.

“Did you check my office on the first floor?” Klaus said frustrated. Clearly he was ready to get his brother out of here and back to what we had been doing. Too bad, I needed to vomit again.

Rushing for the bathroom, I felt everyone’s eyes on me, though I didn’t care. Leaning over the porcelain toilet I got my first good look at the place.

The bathroom had the same brick as the bedroom, with similar art on the walls over the copper tub which matched the sinks and mirrors above them. There was a his and hers side to the room, with the tub at the center and a large walk in shower over in the corner out of stone. The black ‘hers’ closet doors looked more feminine, with delicate arches and fleur de lis craved into the two middle panels. Stepping inside, all my clothes were hung up in the different cubby-holes. At the center of the room, a cream chaise sat beside a small mini fridge, where I took a blood bag from.

Walking back into the bedroom, in those few minutes I was gone, Elijah and Katherine had joined the commotion, resulting in a somewhat playful looking fight between the three Mikaelson brothers. Elijah, ever the mediator, tried to pry the younger two apart, dressing in extremely ruffled blue striped pajamas, whose state couldn’t be a product of his brothers’ fighting. I glanced over at the older doppelganger, who sat, looking bemused, at the brothers. How was it that her curls looked perfect this early in the morning? They were glossy, standing out against her scarlet lace nightdress. Bonnie had since given up on watching, her head bent over the grimorie. She dressed more casually, in an undefined white male T-Shirt and a pair of green plaid shorts. Every so often, she would sneak a glance at Kol. Even I had to admit, he looked good, playfully shouting at Klaus to give him back his grimories. The two men fought, both shirtless, in matching silk boxers, Kol’s green, Klaus’s blue. Klaus would pin Kol down, only to grip his head in pain. Kol, then still delighted with his magical abilities, would pin him down.

I watched them for a second, seeing Elijah’s resolve melt.

“That’s it!” He yelled, body slamming both of them flat to the ground. Klaus groaned under the weight of both of his brothers, while Kol tried to hit both of them at the same time.

I walked over to them trying to kill each other on the ground, and tapped my foot impatiently.

“You done yet?” Klaus looked up at my guiltily, while the rest of them take a sudden interest in the ground.  Klaus got up, brushing himself off and plucked the blood bag from my hand, poised for the final sip. Draining it, he tossed it across the room into the trash, then turning to face his brothers.

“Your damn grimories are in a box in the attic labeled ‘Kol’s shit.’” He said simply, before walking out the door with me trailing after him.

*Bound By Blood*

Downstairs, sunlight streamed into the informal living room, which was connected to the kitchen. The walls throughout the entire house, I guess, had that same antique brick, however down here, the art was older, more impressionistic, matching the Louis XVI furniture scattered across the room. The French windows led out onto mini balconies looking out at the view.

“Why do you insist on fighting with your siblings? Honestly you’re going to be a _father._ ” Every time I pull the father card on him, he does either two things. Gets angry or look just plain uncomfortable. Today, it seemed to be the latter. He wouldn’t meet my eyes, reaching in the fridge for a blood bag. I was actually sort of proud of him, in that regard, not feeding from humans. Not that we technically had the time for him to go on a feeding spree, but I at least knew he was trying.

Silently handing me a blood bag as well, number two of the day, I walked back into the living room and out onto the balcony.

“It’s lovely, isn’t it.” Klaus commented, joining me on the metal structure.

“Of course it is… It _is_ Paris. What are we doing today?” I asked coming back inside as wind whipped around me, trying to lift up my thin blue nightgown.

“Assuming that we are going to free young Jeremy from the other side, we’re going to the border. Then again, if Kol is too busy with his party tricks, then _we_ might go to the Louvre.”

“The artist’s playground.” I stated, as Rebekah and Stefan trialed into the room, making a beeline for the kitchen.

“Nik, we’re going shopping today.” Rebekah blandly announced, not giving him a choice. He raised an eyebrow, while Stefan just accepted it, his eyes cast down at his coffee cup full of scarlet blood.

“Who is ‘we’? Because _I_ am planning on painting today, not traipsing behind you on another one of your silly fashion conquests.” He rolled his eyes, as more of our party filed in. Damon, blurry eyed and surprisingly still in dark wash jeans… and little else. Elena, pranced behind him, wide eyed at the whole scene of Paris. Her twin came in next, walking backwards as she attempted to fix Elijah’s extremely ruffled hair. Giving up, she semi-pushed Damon out of the way of the coffeemaker with a toss of her glossy curls. He glared at her, snarling with his vampire features coming out to play.

“Caroline and I… She _did_ comment to you quite loudly the other day about nothing fitting her” Rebekah said rather pointedly. I nodded my head, simultaneously giving Damon a look, daring him to insert his opinion. He smirked into his coffee mug.

“I thought we were getting my brother back.” Elena blurted out.

“Do I sense a bit of humanity there?” Damon said, his eyes doing that weird thing that I personally referred to as “The Douchey Blue Steel.” Elena however, in privacy, referred to it, as the sexy Smolder.

“Shut up.” She snapped, ripping open a blood bag with her fangs exposed.

“Is it even possible to do it today? I mean, isn’t there some spell that witchy and warlock have to cook up?”

“Yes and no.” Bonnie answered, walking into the kitchen and dropping a large leather bound grimorie onto the mahogany table. It looked ancient, the leather well-worn in places, while various pages of different shades stuck out. Kol came up behind her, as she combed through a pouch pulling out various things: jars, a knife, an elegant fountain pen, and an odd collection of silvery trinkets. He opened the book to a mark, where the left page was covered in spidery handwriting and the right was blank.

“What _is_ that?” Klaus asked pointing to the book.

“Το βιβλίο των  Ἑκάτη” Kol answered, though all of us looked at him in confusion, due to the odd language spilling from his tongue.

“In English, brother.” Elijah said exasperatedly, lifting up the cover to examine the words there.

“Honestly, in all these thousand years, _none_ of you made effort to learn ancient Greek? Lazy.” He muttered, running his hands over the words adorning the cover, in several languages, none of which I recognized.

“It’s called the Book of Hecate, supposedly the first grimorie. Let’s just say it gets around, not belonging to one family.” Bonnie answered, flipping to the inside cover, to point out a list of names.

The first three, Cassandra, Circe, and Medea, as Kol pointed out and translated, were in Ancient Greek. The next name however, was in Aramaic, as I recognized from the sword.

“Quetsiah.” Klaus whispered.

“Most of her pages are ripped out, but it shows a lot of her notes.” Kol said just as quietly. “About the Cure… and the spell that made Silas what he is.”

The whole room doesn’t say anything, in awe at this discovery.

“But, it’s incomplete.” Bonnie said rushed, “All I can tell is that most of the ingredients used, well where they came from either no longer exists, or is extinct. And from what I can tell from the spell on Silas, it’s probably more trouble than it’s worth.”

We moved on, though several of our group still eyed the book, thinking of the spell longingly.

The next two were written in what appeared to be runes, that all of the Mikaelson siblings picked up on immediately.

“Merlin?” Rebekah said incredulously regarding the fourth name. “Are you sure this isn’t just a cheap cover. Merlin and King Arthur are no more than a legend.”

“Technically, all of us are fairy tales.” Bonnie corrected. “And this was Ayanna’s grimorie too. She took notes in here about, well, what made you guys vampires. Everyone that ever owned this, has done something, something _big._ And they wrote most of it down here.”

Supposedly next to the name Ayanna, which was written in similar runes as Merlin and the other name-Morgan le Fay as Bonnie said, was a name I somehow found familiar.

Esther.

As Klaus read the name, a growl echoed from deep in his throat. Did he honestly have that much hatred for his own mother?

Moving on, Kol flipped through the pages faster, names coming up that somehow I recognized. Kol Mikaelson, written in English script, Nicholas Flamel, in a spidery golden handwriting. John Dee, the astrologer of Queen Elizabeth the First, whose name was barely legible. Nostradamus, another name I was familiar with, partially due to my fascination with royalty when I was younger.

Next was Marcel Dubois, probably the Marcel I had only briefly met in New Orleans. Though he showed up a couple more times in the records, only seeming as a holder for the next person to take it.

Kol Mikaelson again. Algernon Blackwood, another historical figure and supposed magister fraud. Kol Mikaelson. Marcel Dubois. Sophie Cirace, the Mediterranean witch we had met at Marcel’s.

Once again arriving at the blank page, with only a naming title on the top in dark black ink. Kol Mikaelson and Bonnie Bennett.

Kol gripped a pen with one hand, regarding the page, as Bonnie toyed with the knife.

“Here’s the problem, Nik. There isn’t a spell exactly _to_ do this. We have to write it.” He explained, staring at the page.

Elena sighed in frustration. Damon threw himself down on the couch, pouring the rest of his blood bag into his coffee.

“So basically we are stuck here until you or witchy has a burst of creativity?” Damon said sarcastically.

“Yes, so Caroline and I are going shopping.” Rebekah answered for the group, grabbing my arm and dragging me towards the door. I gave Klaus a shrug, and grined at him, heading upstairs to get dressed. Time to see Paris.

*Bound By Blood*

**Klaus POV**

After my infuriating sister pulled Caroline out the door, Stefan trailed after them, ever the lost puppy. My younger brother and the Witch had left soon after too, with the scent of sage coming heavily upstairs.

I looked out the window, sipping the dregs from my coffee cup. I liked Paris well enough, particularly this particular neighborhood, Le Marais, Old Paris, which had turned into a cooler artistic district.

All that was left in the room now, were the two doppelgangers, and their respective companions. Elijah and Katherine sat at the counter in an awkward silence; occasionally exchanging sappy glances that made my stomach turn. Damon and Elena just sat there, him sipping his bourbon and the younger doppelganger tapping away on her silver cell phone.

Standing up, I refilled my coffee.

“Are you going to retrieve the Cure today?” I asked, clearly telling my brother that though it was worded as such-it wasn’t a question.

“Orders? Really brother, you are not the captain of the ship, though you might think so. It was in our original plans, just not on _your_ requests.” Elijah almost spat, looking at me with disdain. Clearly after all these years apart, he had grown a mind of his own. Stomping out of the room with Katherine following him, the room was finally quiet.

I sort of doubt I would get much of this peace ever again.

True to that statement, my sister came stomping down the stairs in those 5 inch heels that made her have to hold someone’s arm on any surface. True to statement, Stefan was latched onto her side. His older brother looked over at him, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like “whipped.”

“Nik, where’s your credit card?” She bluntly requested, holding out her hand for my wallet.

“No, Bekah.”

“Excuse me? Give me your card, Nik!”

Though Rebekah was sort of screaming at me, all my attention was focused to one Caroline carefully making her way down the stairs. Though she wore heels as tall as my sister’s, she teetered on them as though she wasn’t accustomed to her weight. True though it was, her bump was sort of hidden in a fold of peach, with a gold jacket that made her hair look like spun gold.

At the bottom of the stairs, she tripped a bit and I rushed grabbing her hand and helping her down and over to one of the barstools. Reaching into my wallet, I flip through a couple of my credit cards, eventually stopping at one and pulling it out, handing it to Caroline.

She read the card for a second staring at me.

“Um, Klaus? Why does this say Caroline _Mikaelson?_ ”

I gave her what I hoped was a puppy-dog look.

“Well I assumed you would be taking _my_ last name after you… you know… stop being elephanty” I held my arms to show that she had in fact gained a bit of weight, smirking. Though I was only joking, her look at me immediately changed from incredulous to insulted. Damon laughed from the couch.

“ _Excuse me?_ Are you calling me fat?” She screeched, bolting up from the bar stool. I stepped back a bit as she got in my face, her finger going up.

“Well you’re not exactly stick thin anymore, love.”

“THIS IS YOUR FAULT.” The rest of the group tried hard to hide their laughter, even as I do. However, hormonal Caroline isn’t amused in the least.

“Though you may have forgotten, it _was_ mutual.” I laughed, gently putting my hand over hers, pulling it away from my face and to her side. Ripping it away, there was a touch of anger in her expression. Evaporating into a sickly sweet look, she vehemently smiled at me.

“How do you feel about sleeping on the couch?”

“How do you feel about sleeping under me?” I gave her a dirty smile, raising an eyebrow.

“Girls, girls.” Stefan drawled, breaking our heated argument, though it was very much one sided.

“You’re both pretty, now can we move on before Blondie cuts up the baby daddy?” Damon remarked. Caroline gave him a glare that could rival even mine, effectively shutting him up.

With a final glare at me, she picked up her purse, stalking down the stairs to the ground floor and street below, though I did notice her slip the card into the bag. Rebekah followed her giving me a less than kind look, while Stefan trailed after her.

Damon and Elena seemingly evaporated, and suddenly I was alone.

My phone buzzed in my pocket and I whipped it out looking at the text that had popped up on the screen, covering that background I had grown fond of. A candid family portrait, a side shot none of us had noticed was being taken.

Caroline had sent it to me, which at first I had rejected, though when she broke into my phone (reminding me that setting my passcode to ‘Caroline’ was a terrible idea) and set it as such, I grew to like it.

Taken at the moment when our family reunited, when Elijah and Rebekah first saw Kol back from the grave, in a tackle hug, we looked like a family for the first time in a thousand years.

I turned my attention to the message and away from my family, unlocking my phone still with the passcode ‘Caroline,’ not having the heart to change it.

**UNKNOWN NUMBER**

**Package has landed. En route to relocation site.**

I smirked, putting the phone back in my pocket and grabbing one of the many pairs of keys from the counter.

Guess I would be painting in blood today instead.

*Bound By Blood*

**Caroline POV**

“No, Rebekah. Those make me look fatter.” I answered the other blonde vampire, as she held up a printed maxi dress for my inspection.

“Well what do you want to wear? I refuse to let you wear those hideous light-wash elastic waist band jeans.” She scoffed referring to those crimes against fashion hanging off of the back wall. It was surprising they even had in the chic maternity boutique Rebekah had taken me to on Chaps d’Elysses. Stefan sat in a chair at the front as we shopped, tapping away on his phone.

“I can just wear dresses for the next six months.” I pulled a couple blue ones of a rack, looking at the size. Pleased, I walked over to the dressing room with her on my heels. Shutting the door, I slipped off my blazer and dress, tossing them over the door to hang and pulling on the first dress. It was cute, with a little blue skirt and a blouse-ish top embroidered with navy blue flowers.

“You can’t wear dresses forever Caroline.” She stated contradicting her previous point of those elastic jeans.

“Damn right I will.” I stepped out to show her the dress I was wearing. She gave me a thumbs up and I went right back in. The next dress was deep cobalt, with a short bodice and sort of flared sleeves with a baby doll shirt going all the way down to mid-thigh. I frown at myself a bit in the mirror, though I came out anyways.

“You look like a balloon.” Rebekah laughs and Stefan slightly smirked in the corner.

“First your brother, now you too? Rebekah!” I whined jokingly.

“I’m just telling you the truth.” She held her hands up giggling as well. Still laughing, I shut the door, grabbing the last dress. It was an electric blue lace over the same fabric. It actually looked good.

Coming out the dressing room, I spun around a bit. Rebekah gave me a grin.

“A lot more ‘Kate Middleton.’ A lot less Kim Kardashian?” I asked her, hoping that I looked much more like Pregnant Royalty, a lot less like the whale the Queen of Reality had turned into. Honestly, she hadn’t been that pretty to begin with and now, well she looked hideous.

Kate Middleton was definitely my fashion icon for the next six months, I thought, admiring her perfectly put together outfits in my People magazine.

Next on the list, colored skinny jeans for women, well like the Duchess and I.

“Ready for more?” Rebekah asked and I nodded my head and Stefan groaned in the corner.

*Bound By Blood*

**Bonnie POV**

Kol slammed the door to his room and I threw down the grimorie on the table, opening it to the blank page.

“So what do we do now?” I stared at the page with absolutely zero inspiration.

He devilishly grined at me, closing his eyes and holding out his hands. With a rush of magic only I could feel, the tons of candles throughout the room ignited, their flames illuminated the curtained, dark room.

“Ever smoked pot?” I raised an eyebrow at him as he pulled open a drawer.

“This is sort of like it… Discovered it in Istanbul from a couple of magi in the 17th century. Apparently it connects you to the spirits, leaving your mind open to their influence. Handy for creating spells.” He tossed me what was for sure a hookah pipe. From another drawer, he took a bundle of dried herbs. The scent hitting my nose, I realized immediately what he was doing.

“No. I am not smoking sage.” I adamantly said, folding my hands in front of my chest and cocking my hip to the right.

“Suit yourself.” He chided, putting some of the herbs into the pipe and, with a snap of his fingers, the fire underneath it was lit. “Guess I’ll just _have_ to take all the credit for, well, everything.”

Giving me his playfully lopsided grins, he snatched a piece of paper from the table, shoving a sprig of sage in and with his finger lit up like a torch, setting it alight. I rolled my eyes at his trick as he smoked the magical herb as though it’s a cigarette.

“Fuck you.” I spit, as he puffed some of the smoke in my face. It was tempting… And I was not about to let _Kol_ of all people take credit for _my_ work.

Giving him my best evil eye, I swiped a joint from the table. He smiles devilishly, lying back on the bed with his dark hair fanning out in a halo of darkness.

“You got me into this, so light the damn thing already.” I demanded irritably. He held his joint to mine setting it alight.

Surprisingly, the fog that probably would have filled my mind that is normally associated with marijuana didn’t appear. Rather, my mind seemed to sharpen, coming into focus.

“What do we do now?” I asked him, as the pipe began to smoke, filling the room with more of the sweet smoke.

“Wait?” His eyebrows went up in an attractive angle though starting to become more and more hidden by smoke.

*Bound By Blood*

**Klaus POV**

The Latin Quarter was alive, just as it had always been. The old place I had here, my art studio in the 30’s, and a hidey hole for spies in the 40’s, had always been the best spot to hide from my siblings. Conveniently, I only acquired the place after all of them were in boxes. I hadn’t wanted to live where we had been a family alone.

Turning off the busy Boulevard Saint-German and onto the quiet Rue Mabillion, the street where the loft I had was. The edifices of the home were ancient looking, though the home was only late 19th century. Stepping up to the door, I shoved one of the many keys from the key ring into the lock and twisted it.

Click. The interior was musty, as I had long since moved out of the place, though the scent of blood was still prominent in the air.

The rickety stairs creaked and groaned under my weight as I headed up to the top of them.

Light streamed in from the top of the covered windows, leaving the man on the floor to shrink into a dark corner. Silver manacles bounded his arms and legs, with blood covering his limbs, as though he had tried to turn.

“Hello Tyler.” I grinned malevolently. He looked up at me with fear in his eyes.

“Are you ready to tell me _everything_ about Silas.” He didn’t answer me.

*Bound By Blood*

“Klaus.” He snarled at me, still in the corner, his eyes feral.

“Pup.” I greeted him quite cordially, all things considered; he did make a direct attempt on my life. Still the mere usage of the word, an extreme insult to our kind, sends him growling at my throat.

“What have you done to Caroline?” He snarled, giving up as the silver burnt his wrists. “Compel her? She could never love a monster like you.”

At the last hateful comment, I let my own anger out on my last hybrid, baring my fangs at him and stalking over, threateningly pulling out a silvery knife.

“Actually, _mate,_ ” I plunged the weapon straight into his stomach. Tyler gasps, his hands immediately clutching at the blade, desperately trying to pull it out. “You drove her to me… Really, I think you bit her one too many times.”

He flung the knife out, throwing it with all of his supernatural strength at me. But, of course I dodged it.

“I mean the first time; you opened a whole new door to there being a Caroline and me. It _was_ only fitting that we started our love and our relationships on the same note. Me saving her, and you.” I spat ‘you’ out as though it was poison, as though I couldn’t even hide my distain for a man I once thought to be my lieutenant, all of which were true. “running away with your tail between your legs. Coward.”

I sliced at his arm, a deep rivet of blood streaming out onto the floor. As the wound began to close, we stared at each other, hatred shared.

“Bastard.”

“Though I am one, at least my son won’t be.” I gave him signature evil villain grin as I walked away, just enjoying watching the emotions conflict upon his face.

“What? Wa-.. How? **KLAUS!”** He screamed, his voice echoing off of the rafters. I didn’t even look back.

Revenge is sweetest when it hits the heart.

*Bound By Blood*

**Kol POV**

I had been high a couple… ok, many times before, though I had never been able to experience the true magic of smoked sage as a vampire. As a warlock, however…

The stuff was odd, my mind was as clear as a bell, even sharper than usual, though everything that came out of my mouth was absolutely and utterly ridiculous. And unfiltered.

Bonnie giggled beside me.

“You know you have nice eyes. They aren’t like your siblings. But, they are the prettiest.” I laughed at her as her hand comes up to my face, curving around my cheek.

“Stop complimenting me, the mirror does every morning.” I joked and she giggled hysterically.

“Why do I like you again?” My brain was screaming bloody murder, Code Red, at this, though I had no control over that. I just felt…. Mellow.

“You tell me, sweetheart.” Her sparkly kaleidoscope eyes widened for a second, then like me, her expression returned to a mellow calm.

“You’re funny and so arrogant that sometimes I want to rip my hair out, and others I want to kiss you until I faint. You’re handsome, smart, though you act like you know everything. Which you probably do. And, you get me. No one has ever gotten the magic part of me. Like how I lost control of it. _You_ knew what to do. You get how hard it is to stay in control, but at the same time, Kol, you’ve showed me a whole new world of spells and arts I didn’t think possible. You make magic fun. You make me better. And sometimes, I’m pretty sure I love you, and others I’m positive I hate you.”

I’m speechless. Though, due to my current state of mind, I have a reason to be. She looked at me expectantly.

“And me? What did I do to deserve the attention of the ‘Great Kol Mikaelson?’”

I can’t stop myself. Is this truth serum or a way to connect to the spirits, because at the moment only the former is working.

“Strength. Of all the witches I have known, all would crumble under what you have faced. You’re gifts… they exceed anything I’ve ever been in contact with. You excite me, Bonnie Bennett. You scorn me, scold me, and surprise me at every turn. I’m drawn to your resilience. And you still, after all I’ve told you I have done, saved me. There’s still a heart in you, though it should have been lost to that wretched expression. I’ve never been in love before; though if I ever was going to be, I’m damn sure it’s now. I’m enamored with your looks, smitten by your magic, besotted by your very being. I think I love you.”

I mentally curse myself as the rush of emotion briefly dances across her face. Confusion, happiness, surprise, and god knows what else. Then, a cloud fills her eyes and she reaches for the piece of paper and ink on the table.

Finally.

She picked of the brush confidently, the utensil flying across the page as she wrote the spell, her dark hair falling over her face in waves.

“Open.” She uttered simply when she was done; handing the pen to me, as I take it and the fog fills my head.

*Bound By Blood*

**Bonnie POV**

I couldn’t believe it. Why in the hell had I said those things? All in all, I had basically confessed my love and hate for him, only to get such an eloquent response—declaration of love—that I actually felt bad about what I had said.

Never again was I doing this.

As the fog lifted from my vision, I had seen it fall over Kol’s, now quickly writing a spell on the opposite piece of paper.

I read my own, silently. Something about opening the doors of the veil seemed to be the general summary, though it had other parts, locking, ensuring that they stay.

Kol sketched something on the page, the fountain pen a blur. Slamming the pen down with finality then, the fog cleared from his eyes as he ran his hair from his shaggy dark brown hair.

“Close.” He said, pointing at the spell.

He met my eyes then, his so unguarded they reminded me of a child’s. They asked if I remembered anything at all, of those horrible, amazing, terrifying, thrilling moments that had only transpired minutes ago. I nodded a solemn yes, and then leaned over the coffee table to pull him into a furtive kiss. He was surprised at first, his lips stayed dormant against mine, his eyes still wide as mine stared up at him hopefully. He responded then, pressing both of his hands against my head, pulling her across the table and into his lap.

Our lips meet frantically, as I situated myself against him. He broke it, once I finally had stayed still for a couple of seconds, staring down at me with such a pure child-like awe and I couldn’t help but grin goofily up at him.

“Now…. I’m very sure I love you.” And I dove in again, giving my answer non-verbally, sweetly with my lips against his.

*Bound By Blood*

**Caroline POV**

As Rebekah and I walked out into the busy street, laden down with bags from probably every boutique within 7 blocks of the fashionable street, my phone began to buzz from the depths of the only recently acquired Louis Vuitton purse. Handing off some of the bags from my right arm to Stefan, who was already drowning in purchases, I checked the caller ID.

“Elijah?” I asked curiously into the phone.

“Where are you?” He asked, strangely abrupt.

“Champs d’Elyesses. Why?”

“My brother requests everyone’s presence at the house.”

“Klaus? Why didn’t he just call me?”

“Kol requests it. Apparently he had a breakthrough, given he sounded rather… excitable. Goodbye Miss Forbes. See you there.”

The call disconnected, leaving me to stare at my phone in confusion.

“Who was that?” Stefan asked, giving the bags back to me.

“Elijah.” I said off handed, holding my hand up at the curb, signaling a taxi. “How can he sound so uptight even on the phone?” Rebekah snorted, sliding into the smoky smelling cab beside me.

“He was born that way. He doesn’t know how to joke—he didn’t even know a thousand years ago when we were human.”

“What did he want?” Stefan inquires as the cab pulls away from the curb, Rebekah telling the driver directions in rapid-fire French.

“Something about Kol having a breakthrough.” I answered, digging around in my purse again for my phone.

Scrolling through the infinite list of contacts, I came to a stop at Klaus’s number, idiotically named Original Bad-ass by said Original. Smiling a bit to myself, I tapped it and brought it to my ear, listening to it ring.

“Hello Love.” His suave British accent melted through the phone.

“Are you at home? Elijah said Kol had somewhat of a breakthrough.”

“Kol? What? Did the pot he was smoking actually help him? I’ll be right over.”

Damn, he was frustrating. And good at avoiding questions.

“Klaus. Where. Are. You?” I enunciated each syllable, making it very clear to him that I knew what he was doing. And that I wasn’t letting him get away with it.

“The Latin Quarter. I had to attend to something, Caroline.”

“What exactly did you have to attend to?” I was still suspicious of him. I mean, who wouldn’t be. It’s Klaus for god’s sake, King of Secrets. Just because I love him didn’t mean I would believe him one hundred percent.

“I wanted to see if some of my old possessions were still with a friend. Turns out, he’s dead.”

I didn’t drop my suspicions about him, though I sounded as though I’m satisfied with his answer.

“See you at home.” I gave him a quick kiss into the phone before hanging up. Rebekah made a vomiting sound

“Could you two be anymore disgusting?” Stefan groaned. “Well, technically you’re the only one being super-lovey dovey. Then, again this _is_ the most affectionate I’ve ever seen Klaus….”

“It’s the first time he’s had feelings. Period.” Rebekah corrected. The taxi whizzed through the streets nearing the stately home quite quickly. Rebekah handed the guy a euro bill as Stefan opened the door, taking the parcels, packages, and bags from me as I climbed the stairs to the front door with caution. The door was painted black, seemingly the standard color of every Mikaelson property until the end of time. The knocker, however, was odd, a devil lion roaring with ruby eyes glittering menacingly.

Unlocking the door, and shoving it open with my hip, I trudged inside, heading straight for the stairs. Even from these old back stairs, I could hear the echoes of the ever present arguments that filled my home.

It hadn’t taken even that long for me to refer to any place or thing of Klaus’s as my own. Even our insane little group, that threatened to kill each other and implode every couple of seconds, was in a way my—our dysfunctional family.

I can already tell who exactly is doing the arguing as I walked in the door. I dumped my bags on the couch with a huff and threw myself into a nearby armchair not wanting to interrupt Katherine and Elijah’s yelling session, though she was the only one yelling. Elijah just sort of sat there taking it.

And of course, Kol—and of course by extension Bonnie—the ones who had called us here, were nowhere to be found.

Rebekah and Stefan stumbled into the door as well, him immediately handing me my purchases, and her making a beeline for the second flight of stairs leading to her room. Knowing that I needed to do the same, and probably retrieve Bonnie and Kol from god knows where, doing god knows what; I just sat in the chair, not wanting to move. Maybe I’ll make Klaus bring up my things when he came home.

I hadn’t realized how much everything hurt until I had sat down. Vampires didn’t feel pain, not constant achy pain like this. My feet were sore and my back had a throbbing knot I couldn’t get out. My clothes were tight, a situation I had remedied a bit, and quite frankly, I felt bloated, whale-ish, and, well, not myself.

Klaus strode through the door as I was inwardly contemplating my various aches and pains, with all of that arrogant confidence that made me what to grin. What had him in such a good mood?

“Klaus.” I called him over, holding out my arms in a reaching gesture. He rolled his eyes at me, though smirked in amusement as he walked over pulling me up.

“What are all of these?” He asked smiling, gesturing to all the various bags strewn about around me. I picked up one of them and put it in his hands, then proceed to pile more, though his face only grows more and more confused.

“Shopping.” When his eyebrows came up in a touch of sarcasm, I stopped the comment before even comes. “Do you honestly expect me to carry all these up? What if I fall?” I pulled my best innocent puppy face and he conceded, not without some substantial amount of grumbling and groaning. A lot of about “The Alpha Male is _not_ a mover” and other similar comments.

Collapsing on the large expansive bed in our room, I let him just dump the bags in my closet, coming back into the room and carefully sitting down beside me. Brushing my hair out my eyes, He smiled down at me.

“Caroline? Are you alright?” I thought about it for second.

“No, I’m actually not.” When his eyebrows shoot up in surprise, I elaborated. “Everything is sore, everyone treats me like a china doll, and furthermore, I am a bloated whale.”

He’s confused, so am I, not even knowing where all this anger is coming from. Hormones? I tried to roll over onto my stomach, to cry into my pillow like I used to be able to do when I was having one of those trying-raging hormones days. Sadly, downside of a bump, I balanced for a couple of seconds in the awkward position before crashing to the other side.

“Ugh! I **_HATE_** this.” I nearly cried. Klaus just looks plain bewildered.

“Caroline… It isn’t permanent. And you said, you wanted this, remember?” He still looked eternally confused, his eyebrows scrunched together to the point where he got wrinkles, in a sort of hopefully concerned expression. His left hand played with my hair with a mind all its own, while the right curves around my stomach in a protective gesture.

“Fuck what I said.” I muttered.

“Caroline.” He said sternly. I glared at him.  He then brought his arm down, to carefully pick me up and place me under the covers. “Rest, love. You’re just tired.” His hand lingered on my stomach, the endless look of wonder in his eyes. Then, he left me alone, walking out the door.

Had _Klaus_ of all people just tucked me in? Curling up into a tiny ball, I closed my eyes, still giggling to myself.

*Bound By Blood*

**Klaus POV**

Today was one of those days. When everything seems to not go my way. First, brother walking in during fore-play. Second, brothers’ fight/I didn’t win even though I totally can beat Elijah. Third, bossy little sister. Fourth, girlfriend/lover/mother of child getting hormonal with me. Multiple times.

The only highlight of the day was, of course, torturing Tyler.

But, of course, Caroline nearly caught me in that too.

I was pretty sure I loved her… Or at least cared about her. But, on days like today, when her hormones were out of control that I wanted to snap her neck, I had to constantly remind myself _why_ I felt something for her.

She is an angel-my angel. Never had she looked better, more alive, than she is now, well with _my_ child. It was satisfaction, to have some sort of proof, before the world, before my father, before God, that it _was_ possible for someone to love _me._

And just that look on Tyler’s face.

I smirked as I walk to my younger brother’s bedroom door not even bothering to listen as I thrust open the black door.

Now, I regret not listening.

My brother and the witch were locked, in what appeared to me, a wrestling match involving their lips. And a marathon to get each other’s clothes off as well.

“WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?” I yelled, my face going red with anger in the mirror.

My brother whirled around, still half on the little witch, whose eyes were as wide as a deer caught in the headlights. His face goes purple with embarrassment, then scarlet with rage.

“Nik. What. Exactly. Do. You. Think. You. Are. Doing?” He asked through clenched teeth.

“You called Elijah, Elijah called me. Apparently, you supposedly had a break through, and not just through the Bennett witch’s pants.”

He rolled his eyes, getting off of Bonnie, who hurried pulls up the white sheet over her topless state. Kol wandered over to the coffee table and opened the grimorie he had earlier. He stabbed the page with his right hand, pointing at the inked in Latin words. I read the headers of the opposing pages quite clearly.

Open and Close.

“The spells are ready. The real question is, are you?” He said, his face once again serious. I gave him a solemn nod, and walked out the door, spitting “Get ready,” to the both of them in the room, before going to rouse the rest of the troops.

Time for battle.

*Bound By Blood*

**Caroline POV**

“I don’t understand why I need armor, Klaus.” I whined, as he holds out the shiny silvery breast plate to me with an expression of pure and utter frustration.

“Caroline, you may be immortal, but we have no idea what the hell is coming through that door… And the baby…” He trailed off, his eyes flicking down to my stomach. I cross my arms over it. “I’ve tested this stuff… Takes a vampire at its best 2 minutes to cut through… Enough time for you to get away.”

I still gave him a skeptical look. No way was I wearing something that made me look like a fucking warrior princes… That was Elena’s job.

“Please Caroline. This _was_ a certain queen’s breastplate. And you can wear it under your shirt.”

I rolled my eyes, finally giving into his obviously pathetic pleading. I slipped off the dress I was wearing and toss it onto the bed, only clad in my white bra and panties, my stomach sticking out slightly. His eyes widen but quickly return to their normal size as he slips the breastplate over my head. It was surprisingly light, with soft leather strap to hold the two pieces of metal together and to hold it on me. Klaus tightens them, and then raps on the back once as I turn around.

“How do I look?” I ask shyly.

“Ready to charge into battle.” He says, admiring my legs, which were, of course, unclad. I smack him on the side of the head and marched into the closet, and pulled on a pair of black pants and some black leather combat boots. Slipping on a black tank top over the breast plate, I added a dark green army jacket to go along with it, along with five or six gold necklaces. Satisfied with the overall effect, I quickly redo my make-up before snatching my phone and walking out of the room, with Klaus beside me, his arm around my waist protectively.

*Bound By Blood*

“Alright so the spell has two parts.” Bonnie explained spreading out the book in her lap, with Kol peering over her shoulder. An SUV followed us through the French countryside, holding some stones that Kol and Bonnie had been carefully loading using just their magic when we had come downstairs. Surprisingly, all the girls were dressed like I was, though the guys were dressed in their usual “battle attire.” Therefore, Klaus in some Henley and that god-awful military jacket that looked like it had seen every single war since the turn of the 19th century, while Kol was dressed nearly identical to him, in a similar hideous military jacket.

“First, when we get there, we’re going to have to pinpoint the ‘bloodiest’ spot. Then set up the stones.” Kol said, tapping on a map on his cell phone.

“Excuse me, but what the hell are ‘the stones?’ More pot that you and the other hybrid were smoking?” Damon asked sarcastically. Bonnie stared at her feet as Kol took a sudden interest in the ceiling.

“We were using _sage_ , not pot.” She corrected, still speaking to her shoes.

“Such a difference.” Damon began clapping his hands slowly and sarcastically. “Really, witchy, you’re picking up so many bad habits from your boyfriend over there.”

Bonnie’s face turned beet red and stammers, “He isn’t my…” Kol cut her off at that, pulling her up and gripping her face and smashing his lips into hers. Almost instantly, she reciprocated, bringing her hands up to his hair.

Damon coughed “awkward” as the witch and warlock ate each other’s faces in front of basically their family. After about a whole minute of that extremely uncomfortable experience, they broke it, grinning at each other.

Surprisingly, Stefan broke the silence.

“You owe me twenty bucks.” He told Damon holding his hand out. Damon rolled his eyes, getting out his wallet and slapping a crisp bill into his brother’s hand. “Alright everyone else pay up.” He urged everyone. I looked around amused as Elijah and Klaus took out their wallets as well, handing him various amounts of money.

Bonnie looked lividly at them.

“You were betting on us?” She hissed, not even noticing Kol’s arm strategically placed around her shoulders.

“Of course… Although everyone lost the Klaus and Caroline bet… You two are honestly the most stubborn people I have ever met.” Damon drawled. Klaus’s eyebrows shot up with interest.

“Really? And what did everyone bet when this would happen.” He asked with interest.

“After you invited her to that damn ball.” Rebekah said, taking a sip of a drink which she had brought from home. Behind her, through the window, the sun was setting.

“The bar… You were so… Protective of her.” Kol grinned, insinuating something that Klaus obviously did not have fond memories of, based on his dark look.

“Saving her from Alaric.” Stefan answered.

“I renewed mine to doing it with her while in Tyler’s body… When you didn’t save me” Rebekah glared.

“I never was in on this.” Elena piped.

“Neither was I. When did you guys even do this? Have your weekly klaroline shippers meeting in the woods and plan?” Bonnie said incredulous.

“What the hell is Klaroline?” I asked, the word odd on my tongue.

Damon laughed. “Your names mixed together… Like Kalijah, the 500 year old rocky, running, one-night stand string of longing Original and bitch” He pointed to Katherine and Elijah. Both of them gave him their best evil look. “Kennett, the weird magical relationship that probably has magical hot sex.” He gestured to Kol, how held his hand threateningly, and Bonnie, who blushed. “And of course, Stebekah, my brother’s awkward flirtation with memory lane.” Stefan glared at his brother, while Rebekah examines her nails.

“And what was your bet, Damon? I think you were the closet.” Rebekah asked uninterestedly.

“I renewed it a couple of times… Originally had it as when he saved her from Ric, then Miss Mystic, and of course after baby daddy here asked me for advice…” Damon gave Klaus a self-satisfied smirk.

“You asked _Damon_ for relationship advice?” I asked Klaus disbelievingly. “Why?”

“He’s done bad things, Elena still loves him. I was… concerned that there might have been some… hatred from you after I… justly punished Tyler.” My eyes widen a bit as I realize what he was talking about.

“Damn right I hated you.” I answer automatically.

“And yet you still told me and I quote ‘anyone capable of love is capable of being saved’” he gave me that annoying egotistical smirk. Rebekah and Bonnie gave a slight “awwww” while Elena and Katherine rolled their eyes.

“Since when do you have Stockholm syndrome?” Damon said, lounging back in his seat. “Or is that something that you heard in Beauty and the Beast?”

I rolled my eyes at him, as Stefan joined in with naming basically every single stupid movie that could apply to it.

However, eventually we got back on track to what we had originally come to do.

“So… Is this going to be sort of an all hell breaks loose thing or can you two control it?” I asked, gesturing to Kol and Bonnie. They peered at the book and then looked up.

“It’s complicated. So the stones basically serve as the door, which we can control.” Bonnie started.

“There’s runes on the stones, so it gives us the control to open and close it at will. The only problem is, once it’s opened, it serves as a beacon to every magical thing in the world. So, Silas is going to know what we’re doing.” Kol continued.

“How do we not let people come back? Didn’t you say that anyone could come back as long as they had a connection to our side?” Klaus inquired, leaning forward.

“Another problem… Once someone comes through, they are here to stay.” Bonnie answered.

“Luckily, they come back in both death order, and the runes interpret the emotions around it. So, say, Nik’s hybrids won’t be walking through those doors… However… Hate is an emotion as well.” Kol reasoned.

“So Mother?” Elijah asked. Kol nodded.

“And Father?” Rebekah asked, a bit of fear in her eyes. Kol nodded again with even more solemnity, the same touch of agate resolve and hate in his eyes that came to Klaus’ whenever that man was mentioned.

“Let’s just shut the fucking door before they come through then.” Klaus harshly said.

“But, Lexi…” Stefan said wistfully. Surprisingly, Rebekah took his hand comfortingly.

“I’m sorry Stefan, but you’ve seen our parents separately… You don’t want to see the damage they could do together. I mean look at the curse they placed upon all of us. And even when he was human…” She whispered in a sweet tone I so rarely heard from her.

I knew that Mikael had been terrible. What kind of father chased his children for a millennium. However, I had always assumed that he had been only harsh to Klaus, though by the way he and Kol got that look in their eyes… I had to wonder if maybe because Kol was a warlock, he got beaten as badly as Klaus did.

It was night now, the stars shone out over this empty plain where the SUV slowly came to a stop in. The one behind us drove a bit further ahead and then stopped too. A couple of compelled humans jumped out of the vehicle and began unloading the white stones which gleamed under the moonlight. Klaus pushed open the door, and stepped out onto the empty field, then helped me out.

Kol and Bonnie hit the ground next, her with the grimorie and him running over to the pile of stones. He spoke to the men for a few seconds as our driver headed over there as well. When he was done, the men headed back in the direction of the road.

Kol grinned at the stones and motioned us over. There were twelve, each with a rune distinctly carved into it.

“Well come on! These aren’t going to move themselves.” He said playfully picking up one of them and grunting a bit. All the guys simultaneously groaned.

*Bound By Blood*

The hole that Bonnie made out of thin air was in the middle of the field. Klaus had said that once, this had been the bloodiest section of the whole war, that death could be smelled even from here, though all I could smell was the flowers of the meadow. Maybe you had to see it to remember it.

Klaus helped me down the hole as Kol straightened the stones, and Bonnie, walked around the border up top, muttering various incantations. When she was done, she jumped down to stand next to Kol. The rest of us sort of stood off to the side, while they stood directly in front of the door.

Bonnie looked at Kol once, offering her hand to him. He took it, his larger hand totally covering up her small petite one. She inhaled and exhaled.

And then began chanting.


	27. Brutus

**WARNING: Hard gore in this chapter, so if it doesn’t set well with you… I’m sorry!!**

**-xoxo Katarhyne**

Bound By Blood

**Chapter XXVII: Brutus**

**Come live with me, and be my love,**

**And we will some new pleasures prove**

**Of golden sands, and crystal brooks,**

**With silken lines, and silver hooks.**

**There will the river whispering run**

**Warm'd by thy eyes, more than the sun;**

**And there the 'enamour'd fish will stay,**

**Begging themselves they may betray.**

**When thou wilt swim in that live bath,**

**Each fish, which every channel hath,**

**Will amorously to thee swim,**

**Gladder to catch thee, than thou him.**

**If thou, to be so seen, be'st loth,**

**By sun or moon, thou dark'nest both,**

**And if myself have leave to see,**

**I need not their light having thee.**

**Let others freeze with angling reeds,**

**And cut their legs with shells and weeds,**

**Or treacherously poor fish beset,**

**With strangling snare, or windowy net.**

**Let coarse bold hands from slimy nest**

**The bedded fish in banks out-wrest;**

**Or curious traitors, sleeve-silk flies,**

**Bewitch poor fishes' wand'ring eyes.**

**For thee, thou need'st no such deceit,**

**For thou thyself art thine own bait:**

**That fish, that is not catch'd thereby,**

**Alas, is wiser far than I.**

**-John Donne, The Bait**

**Caroline POV**

The wind picked up as Bonnie’s chanting started.

“ _Mors est janua. Aperi. Singillatum.”_  Her eyes were clearer than ever, blood already running from her nose.

I leaned into Klaus, shielding my face into his neck as things began to get caught in the wind.

The howling gales circled around the hole in the ground, though the air above us was dead calm.

“ _Aperi. Vincula huic mundo. Vincula huic mundo._ _Fracturam.”_  The stones began to faintly glow, the space forming the “door” between the arch thickened and became a wispy silvery fog.

I pressed up against Klaus, his arms going automatically around me. I knew it was a long shot, but in my mind I kept thinking, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy.

“ _Mane! Unicum!”_ Bonnie was nearly shrieking the words and the light around the door burst into gold. The runes lit in that similar color, glowing mysteriously.

She collapsed a bit, though Kol caught her as a pallid white hand reached out from the veil, trying to get through. A face, just a mere glimpse of one, peered out attached to the hand.  Jeremy. Elena cried out, rushing towards her brother without a thought in the world. As though, her humanity had never been off.

Reaching her hand out, her fingertips just barely touched the wisps of the veil; she then went further into the veil. I could see her hand, which had looked as though it was submerged in water; grasp another white pallid one, holding it firmly.

And then she pulled. Walking backwards, Jeremy seemed to grow out of nothingness. First, it was just the hand, then the arm, clad in an army green shirt. Damon rushed over as Elena began to struggle in pulling out the rest of her brother’s body. Finally, Jeremy fell through the veil.

He looked as though he did when died in an army green shirt and a pair of dark black jeans.

“Elena?” he asked, staring up at his sister with wide, confused, dark brown eyes. Elena looked at him for a second, before crying out, dropping to the ground alongside of him, taking him in her arms, sobbing.

“And that is how you turn someone’s humanity back on” Damon drawled, as yet another hand dipped through the curtain. This one however, didn’t seem to need as much help as Jeremy, who still was being hysterically sobbed on the ground by Elena.

Of course, Ric fell through the door next.

Damon, who had been looking at the Gilbert siblings with a sort of happy, self-satisfied expression on his face, looked up openly staring at his dead best friend.

Alaric stumbled over to him, wrapping his arms around Damon leather-jacket encased shoulders in a manly bear hug. Damon’s ice blue eyes just went wide. Alaric looked around at the rest of us still man-hugging Damon.

“I thought you were going to take care of the children.” He said sarcastically to Damon, his eyes particularly stopping on me and well, the small representation of my family. Me in the middle, my stomach a bit swollen with pregnancy, and Klaus with his arms around me.

“Maybe because my best friend left me alone. You can’t keep all of them out of trouble at the same time.” Damon chuckled, slapping his best friend on the back and crouching down to try and coax Elena out of her hysteria.

During these tearful sappy reunions, either taking part in them or merely being content watching them, no one noticed the next person pushing herself through the veil. A string of reddish-blonde hair flew out first, and then followed by another person, someone who, though I had only seen her once, struck fear into my heart.

I looked anxiously up at the top of the whole, feeling as though I was the only one to notice the Mother of the Originals emerging from the door.

“I guess I had to die to make us a family again.” She said in her crisp British accent and brushing off her dress. For a millisecond Klaus stood there, just staring in awestruck horror at his mother, before rushing at her, his fangs out in a deadly snarl. She brought her hand up threateningly at her bastard son as he tried to claw at her with such unguarded hatred. Kol, whose eyes held a similar hatred, stalked toward the woman like a cat, his hand at his side gathering a dark orb of magical energy.

As he was about to hurl the ball straight at his mother’s head, Bonnie cried out.

“NO!” The two men—seemingly beasts of anger and hatred now, looked at her in shock.

“What?” Klaus spit dangerously, still with the feral look in his eyes.

“I think we need her.” Bonnie said wearily. Kol stared openly at her with suspicion. “I can’t explain it, but… the spirits…” With that Kol gave the woman one last look of pure loathing before angrily throwing the ball of purple energy at the nearby wall. It exploded with a rage nearly as powerful as his own, causing dirt to come down on all of us.

Klaus was only just beginning to calm down, out of his homicidal rage, his fangs retracted, and his eyes turned a few shades towards the light blue I knew and loved. Still he looked murderously at his mother. And she merely stared back at him, with an odd, curious, observant expression on her face.

The portal began to flare up again as two figures began to cement in the door.

“Greetings from the dead.” I didn’t really recognize the voice, though it had the same stiff austere male tone that all the Mikaelson siblings had. A willowy red head hung on the man’s arm, whose dark hair, near exact to the same shade of Elijah’s, hung short. Deep scars ran down his cheeks, marking him as a warrior.

“Finn.” Elijah breathed, rushing over to embrace the man our cadre had killed so long ago. He seemed surprised, his eyes went wide and his arms awkwardly flailing out to the side as Elijah embraced him, totally skipping over the man-hug part. The red-head, Sage I think her name was, looked on with that same bitchy smirk that so lit Katherine’s face often.

“Mother.” The man muttered staring at Ester with both scorn and love in his eyes.

“Finn.” She said curtly, inclining her head ever so slightly. The portal was flaring brighter now, with all of us glancing anxiously at it. Kol began to examine the spell book as a half of a face appeared in doorway, with an unreadable expression of his face. I didn’t recognize him, but glancing at the Mikaelson siblings’ faces, it had to be Mikael. For the first time, fear was evident on Klaus’s face.

Kol frantically began chanting, a wild fear filling his eyes as a hand started to reach out to of the door, though the wisps of smoke began to de-fog, becoming less and less corporal.

“ _Claudite ostia,_ _Custodite animas hic suscitauerat”_ The stones started to glow less, the runes going darker and darker.

“Stop it Kol!” Esther shouted, rushing to her youngest living son, raising her hand to try and silence him. But, for the sake of revenge, Klaus rushed over to the woman, his fangs bared in snarl as he relentlessly snapped her neck.

“She’ll wake up… probably.” He said crisply with his fangs still over his lip. I glared at him.

“ _Claudite ostia, Nemo diutius perambulaturum_ ” He shouted, the veil just mere wisps, the hand reaching out to get through became just smoke.

Esther lay crumpled on the ground, unmoving as Kol finished the spell with a panicked flourish.

“ _Claudite ostia.”_ He only had a bit of blood coming from his nose, which Bonnie held a tissue to. I looked around at the newcomers, Jeremy still trying to calm down Elena, who clung to him for dear life. Alaric stood staring with undisguised hatred at Esther. After all, she _had_ turned him into a monster who had tried to make him her own personal pawn. Finn kept staring quite resolutely at his mother, with Sage’s hand clutched in his.

The sky began to stain pink and purple as day approached, and Kol began hoisting the stones down from their door like structure. Klaus gave his eldest brother a wary look before gesturing to their mother on the ground, and back to the two parked SUV’s a ways off. Finn rolled his eyes, but however, did pick up his mother like a rag doll and carried her there; throwing her in the trunk of the one we used to carry the stones here.

They were packing up now, throwing the stones in the back of the car. I felt disgusting, muddy, hot, and in desperate need for blood. I avoided Klaus, still with a tint of yellow in his blue eyes, helping myself over the hole; even with vampire speed, it was a difficult feat.

Finally, I managed to launch myself up over the lip, though landing a bit haphazardly, sprawled out on my back.

“Need some help?” Alaric asked, offering me his hand. I flinched a bit, remembering my ‘after-school special’ the last time I had seen him; driving pencils into my hands and burning my mouth with vervain.

“I’m not going to hurt you Caroline.” He said his eyes sad. He probably remembered everything he did, to all of us, though he wasn’t him.

I took his hand warily, letting him pull me to my feet, with a jangle from my armor. He raised one eyebrow at the sound then looked down at me, again staring openly at my stomach.

“Seriously Caroline? I don’t even _want_ to know how the hell that happened.” He grumbled.

“What’s that?” I asked sassily, planting both my hands on my hips.

“Caroline Forbes, I’m not stupid. Either you’ve gotten fatter or you’re pregnant. Does your mother know?” Alaric was giving me a fatherly look that I had missed. Damon walked up to his “buddy” slapping him on the back.

“You’ve missed a lot Ric. Stop harassing Blondie and get in the car… Won’t want her hybrid to kill you.” He drawled. I glared at him, though they headed to the car as well. Elena and Jeremy followed them, soon followed by the rest of our group. It was still odd, seeing those who we buried, those who we killed, walking, laughing, and talking to us. I only wish…

“Ready to go, love?” Klaus asked, his arm placed on my shoulder. I looked up at him. His face was a turmoil of emotion. Anger, happiness, joy, and fear. A thousand years of such a storm, would he ever get any calm? Smiling up at him, a genuine, sweet smile, that said everything was going to be ok, I let him walk me to the car. Of course he was still mad, but it _is_ my job to calm him down. Always.

Slipping in beside Klaus, I laid back and closed my eyes; just listening to Damon explaining everything that happened to his best friend who was prompted by questions from the others.

“First off, Elena’s a vampire.” Damon said before Alaric could get a word in edgewise. “And Original Hybrid over there is alive because Willow over here decided that he probably _was_ telling the truth about the bloodline shit and put him in Teen Wolf’s body. Anyways, they switch back and Witchy gets her magic taken away.”

“Did you ever mourn me?” Alaric asked jokingly.

“I got drunk at your grave… Does that count?” Damon asked in all seriousness.

“No Damon… Mourning is what I did.” Elena corrected, still with her arms wrapped around Jeremy, her own personal teddy bear. He was giving her a look, though he didn’t say anything.

“And when did that” Alaric gestured to Klaus and I, “happen? Last I remember, we were trying to kill him.”

Damon smirked, as I pressed my fingers to my temple, preparing for a massive about of BS… and a headache.

“Well, though you might not have noticed when we were killing first dead Original over there, but Blondie liked to play ‘Little Blonde Distraction.’ Well, she _said_ that she hated it, yet if I remember right, who started volunteering to distract him?” I gave Damon my best hateful glare.

“I think she secretly enjoyed it.” Klaus said and I smacked him on the side of the head. He grinned at me, spreading his arms in a sort of “there’s nothing I can do” gesture.

“Why don’t we start with you, Damon, since you’re so eager to bad mouth me?” I asked with a toss of my hair over my shoulder and a poisonous smile.

“He first made Elena drink live blood, then slept with her, next running off like the cowardly bastard he is. Of course when he came back does he try and act all high and mighty because she was _sired_ to him… And then to top it all off he turned her humanity off… So in short, **bad job _Damon._ ” **He rolled his eyes at me, as Alaric gave him a condescending fatherly look, and then shook his head.

“What am I going to do with all of you?” He muttered, his head falling into his hands. Damon opened his mouth, probably for another snarky comment but Alaric stopped him, holding his hand up. “Don’t even Damon.”

“But so much more happened… Like my brother fucked memory lane and Witchy had to fuck the resurrected Original,” Damon whined, earning him deadly looks from the two pairs in question.

The car didn’t go quiet, the general buzz of chatter was still around me, though I tuned it out, closing my eyes and nuzzling into Klaus’s chest. His arms go automatically around me as I dozed off.

*Bound By Blood*

I woke up somehow in the empty bed, totally naked, the light of the late afternoon piercing my eyes. The doors to the balcony stood open letting a slight breeze flow through the room. Getting up, I dragged the sheet with me, and walked out onto the balcony, only taking brief notice of the clothes—both mine and Klaus’s throw haphazardly on an armchair. I clung to the corner for a second, all prepared to stride out onto there but I stopped, noticing Klaus looking out at the city and whispering into a cell phone.

I admit I am a nosy person. As a human, I made it my business to be up in everyone else’s business. But something about how Klaus stood—the slump of his shoulders, how his hand cover his mouth as he spoke, even the whispered tone—screamed suspicion.

“Has he said anything yet?” Klaus said in an urgent hushed tone. My brow furrowed. Who is ‘he’?

“Nothing. And he hasn’t been responding to any of the torture either.” Another voice replied, at normal volumes, though it had been turned down on Klaus’s sleek Samsung Galaxy Note 2.

“Dammit… I’ll be over as soon as I can…” He cursed. “Until then, use some of the Inquisition tactics. I want him alive, but if you kill him for a few hours I wouldn’t object.” He ended the call with a menacing grin still looking out at the romantic, historic city.

With a small step, I walked around the corner, my eyes wide.

“Klaus?” I asked in a small voice, making me sound much younger, a child. “Who is ‘he’?”

He whirled around, surprise plastered to his face. Then it smoothed out to an extremely guilty look. Then, a false smile.

“Caroline… Glad to see you’re awake.” He said in a fake jovial tone, his hand resting on the metal grille of the balcony.

“Klaus. Who. Are. You. Torturing?” I asked, enunciated each word with gritted teeth and a steely look in my eyes. He avoided my resolute gaze, looking anywhere but—the sky, the ground, the city—anywhere but my eyes.

In my head, I ran through a list of anyone he would be torturing, anyone he would want to hide from me. And there’s only one person he would hide from me…

“Tyler.” I whispered, fear in my voice. I looked up at him with heartbroken eyes. “Tyler.” I said stronger now. “Why are you hurting him? What has he done to deserve this?”

His eyes changed in a split second. From guilty to momentarily hurt to almost insane anger.

“Because he betrayed me. Because he tried to kill you. Because he’s working for Silas. The list goes on and on, love!” He shouted, his hands in the air in a “what can you do?” gesture.

“But, you don’t beat someone black, blue, and bloody just for that! It’s just plain monstrous!” I yelled, getting into his face, mine red with anger.

“So what now I’m a monster? He hurt you, so he will pay. Simple as that.” He raged, his face going red with anger just like mine. Then, hurt, livid look filled his eyes. “Or maybe you’re still in love with Tyler!?!”

I scoffed. “As if! Apparently, I’m in love with a torturing monster!”

“So you _are_ still in love with Tyler! And yet after all of this you are carrying _my_ child!” He was now screaming in my face, as I was in his, both of our faces scarlet with anger.

“It’s mine too! And unless you clean up your act, and stop acting like a psychopathic dick, you can kiss this family good bye.” I screamed, unintentionally harsh. I brought my hand to my mouth, instantly regretting what I said.

“Klaus…” I said, the regret in my voice evident, as he looked away with his face screwed up, and an infinitely hurt look in his eyes. I had only ever seen it a couple of times on him… And all of it stemmed from me. Yet, even though I felt terrible for calling him a monster, he wasn’t one of course, I felt completely and utterly just in my punishment of his treatment of Tyler.

“You have to let some of these grudges go.” I tell him as gently as possible, tentatively placing a hand on his shoulder. He shrugged it off instantly, giving me his worst glare ever, his eyebrows drawn low of his eyes daggering my heart.

And then his eyes go cold, the cold-blooded serial killer cold that had so stained his eyes when I first met him. They had been a void of no emotion. Now, however, they was a deep hole of pain. Giving one last “I don’t care look” that I knew was a lie, he stalked off with vampire speed, just a breeze of air as the only evidence he was ever here.

I stared after him dumbfounded, still wrapped in the sheet on the balcony, as I hear various doors slam in the house. Walking back inside, I collapsed on the bed, tears already gathering in my eyes. What was I going to do?

Stuck between a rock and a hard place, I wrestled with myself. On one hand, I needed to save Tyler and ensure that Klaus doesn’t go all pysco-killer on him. But on the other if I do save Tyler, then Klaus will assume I still have feelings for him and go pysco-broken hearted.

Either way, I was going to track Klaus down, and at the very least apologize if he refused to sway his opinion.

Getting up and stalking to my closet, I stopped only momentarily to vomit, before ransacking it for something appropriate to wear. I settled on a pair of combat boots, laced up over one of my new pair of stretchy pregnancy pants, with a white oxford and one of Klaus’s artsy army green jackets that seemed to have an infinite amount of pockets. Marching straight out the door, I set off to find Bonnie. There was no way in hell I was going to track down the murderous hybrid _without_ a tracking spell.

*Bound By Blood*

Bonnie’s room was empty, not even slept in, and barren of luggage, as though she had never entered it. Rolling my eyes with a smirk, I stalked off across the hall to Kol’s room, assuming that now that they were a couple, she didn’t have to sneak in and out of his room in the middle of the night.

Throwing open the door with a bang, the two people dozing quietly on top of each other, shot up with a start, Bonnie immediately pulled the sheet over her uncovered top and Kol smashed his head into the pillow, after giving me a glare.

“What the fuck?” He muttered. “Go bang my brother or something…”

“Well I can’t. Considering he’s having a tantrum and torturing my ex behind my back.” I replied sassily, crossing my arms over my chest and popping my hip out.

“WHAT?” Bonnie shrieked, throwing off the sheet and running to the closet. Kol gave me one languid look of “do this shit yourself” then threw the pillow back over his head, assumedly back to sleep.

Bonnie ran out of the closet, a green dress haphazardly thrown on, and her hair messily being brushed back into a ponytail. She basically fell into a pair of nude flats and grabbed my hand racing to a table with a map of Paris conveniently spread out on it.

“Do you have anything of his to track?” She asked as she grabbed one of the multiple knives from the table. Kol was just getting out of bed, as I heard the groans of the mattress behind me. I wordlessly took off one of the leather chains off of my neck, a necklace I stole from his closet in New Orleans, and handed it to her. She slit her wrist with a precision swipe, letting quite a few drops of blood onto the paper and began muttering a typical tracking spell.

The crimson drops of blood on the cream paper began to move, away from our location in the heart of Le Marais, across the Seine, and down a wide Boulevard and onto a smaller street just a couple of blocks away from the Luxembourg Gardens.

I looked at it for a second, looking once at Bonnie and headed towards the door.

“Wait for me Caroline.” She called after me, as she grabbed a dark brown saddlebag.

“No.” I said, turning around to look back at her. Her brow furrowed in confusion as she stoped in mid-step. Kol stared at me similarly.

“It’s my fault, so I have to fix this.” I explained, not even waiting for their responses and walked out the door.

The living room was barren of life, as I quietly crept through it. I reached the staircase and sped down the stairs and out the front door. The street was busy, given that it _is_ late afternoon, so I hailed a cab. Slamming the door of the black cab, I spit out the address in my best French accent, hoping I didn’t sound like an idiotic American tourist.

“Corner of Boulevard Saint-Germain and Rue de Four.” And the cab took off in a rush.

*Bound By Blood*

I paid the cab and stepped out onto the quiet road and headed down the street. Instantly, I knew which building was Klaus’. It was the only sort of abandoned building on the block. The windows were boarded up and the vines so overgrown, it didn’t look like they had been cut since the last world war. I had to push some away just to find the door. Oddly enough, the door isn’t that complicatedly locked, just a bit of vampire strength and I was in.

The first floor was no more than just dusty covered furniture, bare tan walls, and a rickety staircase that looked like at any second it could fall. At the top, a trapdoor lay shut; effectively shutting off any sound from upstairs I could here.

Creeping up the stairs, my boots only made slight scuffing sounds, though the wood groaned in protest under my feet. I reached the trapdoor finally, lightly pushing on the top. Of course, it was stuck.

Grunting, I pushed on the door with my left shoulder, the door busted through and my head popped up into the expansive, loft-like room. It looked like the rest of the house, old wood covering the whole room, except there was absolutely no furniture, instead covered and strongly smelling of blood and contained the last two hybrids, both spattered with blood and their expressions clouded with rage.

Klaus was yelling at Tyler, something about where Silas was, holding a bloody knife. Tyler snarled at him, pure and utter hatred in his eyes as a gash from his forehead bled into his eye. He tried to lunge at Klaus but the chains attached to each of his appendages, effectively—and inhumanely—kept him just out of reach, torturing him. I couldn’t mask my cry as I watched Tyler’s blood spill onto the already stained floor.

The hybrids looked at me, both in surprise. Klaus dropped the knife, letting it clatter to the floor as I dashed towards both of them.

“Caroline.” Tyler groaned as rushed in between the two men. Klaus, having dropped the knife, had his fangs bared and claws out, ready to rake them across Tyler’s face.

“Stop it!” I shouted and Klaus rolled his eyes, bringing his hand to his side, using one hand to try and gently push me out of the way.

When I refused to move, still staying protectively in front of Tyler, he growled, “Caroline. Move.” Pushing me a bit harder this time. Still I stood fire in my eyes.

“No.” I said, steadfast in my resolve.

“So… You do still care about him.” Klaus said, surprising calm, though in that cold-blooded killer way that I knew meant trouble.

Turning to face him, I gave him by best motherly look, crossing my arms over my chest.

“I don’t. You want to know what Klaus? I only care about you! And I am doing this _for_ you!” I shrieked getting up in his face, standing on my tiptoes. He frowned confused at me, his eyes still wandering over to Tyler, as though he was a child waiting to get back to a game.

“You cannot be a cold, heartless monster. I _won’t_ allow it, our family won’t allow it, and for sure, this child won’t allow it.” I say, stabbing my finger in the direction of each person, twice at myself.

“He wasn’t being a lying dick? Caroline, you actually are….?” Tyler asked behind me.

“Tyler, shut up for another thirty seconds please.” I said quickly, turning back to Klaus.

“Klaus, please. If you want information from Tyler, at least don’t keep him chained here like a common dog.”

“But he is one, love! And dogs need to learn that lying” He spits the word, aiming a kick at Tyler. He skitters away a scowl playing on his lips. “is not tolerated.”

“There are other ways!” I begged him, tugging on his arm. He looked at me as though I was an annoyance. I mean, what is a butterfly to a wolf?

He looked at me skeptically, though did not totally reject the idea much to my surprise. Instead, he waited, however impatiently for me to continue.

“Remember what Bonnie did to you? Of course, minus your brother’s corpse, but….” His eyes lit up with the memory of the torture he was put through, a cruel light that scared me. Never the less, he nodded, no less the ruthless killer that had stood in this same position a year and a half ago with us, making a call and then hurting Tyler.

Walking towards the trapdoor, he pulled it open, taking out his phone and typing his passcode, still shamelessly ‘Caroline.’ And with that he was gone.

I whirled around to Tyler, who was staring at me amusingly. I crouched down to his level, fingering the chains on his wrists, moving them back ever so slightly to examine the new bleeding cuts on his arms. The gash on his head was partially healed, relatively slower than usual.

“How could you, Care? He’s a monster.” Tyler whispered his left hand closing over my own. I stared at it as though he had tentacles, though I let him keep it there.

“No. He’s not.” I answered entirely truthfully. Tyler looked at me confused.

I didn’t need to tell Tyler. Klaus just didn’t know how to act when someone hurt him… All he knew was lashing out, so that’s what he does. It’s not his fault. If anything, it’s his father’s. From what I had gathered from Klaus’s stories, Kol’s various reactions, and the fear of all the Mikaelson siblings last night, in particularly Kol and Klaus, I was sure Mikael abused them. Not specifically Finn, Elijah, and Rebekah, the less insane of the Originals, but I was positive Klaus and Kol took the brunt of it. I had seen Klaus’ scars, and some of the obvious ones on Kol. Maybe somehow, Mikael had known those two were different, oddballs even as humans. Regardless, he had torn them apart, leaving them more than just physical scars.

Tyler looked at me like he didn’t even know me and shook his head.

“Whatever you think Care… As long as you’re happy.” He honestly surprised me with his answer, though to say the least I was delighted. Maybe Tyler could forgive me. Lost in happiness, Tyler tapped me on the shoulder.

“Hey Caroline, what time is it?” I glanced down at my phone, pressing the on/off button to glance at the glowing white numbers.

“6.” I answer passively.

“Exactly?” He asked.

“Ummmm…” I checked again, as I had automatically rounded up the numbers. “Well, one minute till.” I giggled. He gave me a devilish look.

Wait, devilish? I looked at him baffled as he stood up, though he had been so weak earlier. I got up with him confused.

As the bells of Notre Dame rang in the distance, an impossible breeze whooshed through the loft. And then it happened.

*Click* *Click* *Click* *Click*

One by one, Tyler’s chains magically unlocked. He deviously smiled, sliding them off one at a time, each with a resounding _thump_. Once they are off, I started to back away before breaking into a dead run to the track door. Never had I been more scared. Not when I was tortured, not when Tyler was dying, not when Klaus bit me. This was fear. Mind-numbing irrational cold panic, with that primal animal instinct to run.

And there Tyler was, standing on the trapdoor, somehow quicker than me, with an evil look plastered to his face that seemed so unnatural that I shivered.

“Not so fast, Care.” He taunted, spitting out my name like a curse. I shrunk back, wrapping my arms around my stomach, looking for an escape route.

“Ho-How did you get out?” I stammered as he stalked towards me, his fangs elongating and claws coming out to play.

“Silas knows a few tricks…” He said darkly, taking a swipe at me. I squeaked, dashing out of the way and towards the trapdoor, but somehow he was there again, blocking my escape route. Slowly, he backed me into a corner, my back pressed up against the old wood.

“Please... Tyler … Don’t.” I pleaded with him. He just smiled an evil smile. I no longer recognize my ex-boyfriend, footballer player, werewolf, and rich kid. All I see is a vengeful hybrid, willing to destroy everything.

Guess Klaus and him traded places permanently.

“You did this to yourself.” He said, before raising his claws.

In one smooth motion, he slashes them across my stomach. Blood instantly flows like water, gushing out on to the floor. I screamed, and then gasped, falling forward. Tyler caught me, staining his raggedy bloodstained clothes with my fresh blood. I heard Klaus running up the stairs, banging on the door, yelling my name. But, I was already too far down the path to unconsciousness to answer. The doors, which Klaus usually would have just torn through like a hurricane, stubbornly stayed shut, assumedly stuck by a spell carried in with the magical wind.

Tyler gave me a cheery sadistic grin as he slowly slid his claws sideways into my stomach. I started choking, though he didn’t stop until I was begging for air. Then, with a terrifyingly deadly whisper he said.

“Wrong choice.”

In a split second the claws are out, a stream of blood pouring out onto the floor and his mouth on my neck, his deadly fangs sinking into my neck, and then the pressure was gone, though I could already feel the yellow poison in my veins. A haze filled my eyes, as I watched him fall into a dead run for the window. As I fell to the floor, already losing consciousness, I watched Tyler fall through the window. Below, I heard shouts of people and the smooth sound of feet hitting the pavement. Then, running.

Klaus burst into the room, the same animalistic wild look on his face as he so often got in moments of emotion.

“Caroline.” He whispered, stunned. Terror filled his face as he rushed to my side, just as my eyes began to close, consciousness no longer an option. He must have bitten into his wrist, because his blood was steadily dripping over me, though I had no more energy to swallow it, just letting the drop drip into my mouth.

The last thing I hear however is him begging, like I had begged him so much earlier.

“Caroline, please.” He shook me, pulling up my soaked shirt, and I gasped. He makes a frightful sound in the back of his throat, then, grabbing my hand, suffocating it. “Love, Caroline… Stay with me. Please.”

The last thing I felt is one salty tear falling down and hitting my cheek, tasting its salt with the salt of his blood.

*Bound By Blood*

**Klaus POV**

I should have never left the room. Never left her alone with him. Never let him harm her. Never let him near her.

I scoffed at myself. How could I be so stupid, so naïve, so idiotic? Tyler was—is an agent of Silas, who has been alive longer than I have and probably has more tricks up his sleeves than God himself.

I had called my brother, gruffly ordering him and Bonnie to get over here ASAP, when I heard Caroline’s scream. Instantly, I forgot about everything, my anger towards her, my call, even my own wellbeing. All I did was mindlessly rushed towards that helpless cry, knowing now truly my own stupidity.

And now here she was, bleeding out on the floor.

“Caroline, please.” I begged her, searching desperately for where the bleeding was coming from. There was already a raw bite mark in her neck, though it wasn’t bleeding. With shock, I noticed the rip in the lower part of her shirt. In ever increasing horror, I lifted it up to look at the source of blood.

With a sharp inhale of breath, I make a choking noise in the back of my throat astounded at Tyler’s wreckage.

Four claws marks mar the top of her stomach oozing blood while four puncture holes gushing blood from the left side of her stomach.

Tyler’s cruelty was at a whole new level, even above mine to women at my worst. _Never_ was I _this_ heartless.

Her eyelashes fluttered, as I examine the wounds, tears coming to my eyes at the thought of losing the both of them. When I noticed how close she was to passing out, I grasped her hand.

“Love, Caroline… Stay with me. Please.” I implored, biting my alternate hand as she passed out. In my haste, a tear slipped down my cheek and onto hers. Forcing my bloodied wrist to her mouth, oddly this reminded me of not too long ago, the night she told me I could be saved. Not only with the force feeding of blood, but once again I had put Caroline in danger with my temper.

She wasn’t drinking. And she was only bleeding more now. I could almost feel the two lives slipping out of my fingers and the clock ticked and she still didn’t drink. I sit her up, only making more blood gush out of her wounds, and then quickly lay her back down. Of course she couldn’t drink she was unconscious.

In desperation, I begin squeezing my artery, letting my own life force drip into her mouth. When it wasn’t coming quick enough, blood still gushing out of her stomach like it was water, I grabbed the knife from my belt, and made a long and deep cut in one of my major arteries in the arm. Finally, my own blood gushed out as strong as her, pouring into her mouth.

She wasn’t responding, still out cold, as the blood rushed into her mouth, but I noticed, breathing a sigh of relief, that her wounds began to scab over. As soon as the blood flow stopped, I stripped her of her jacket and tore off her shirt.

Lifting her up as though she was a rag doll, I carried her over to one of the few spots in the room where the floor wasn’t covered in blood.

I lay the jacket on the floor, making a palette for her naked upper body as I used my own for a pillow for her head. Ever so gently, I run my hand through her golden hair praying Kol and Bonnie would get here soon.

In my own desperation I began to talk to her, hoping, praying she could hear me.

“I’m sorry. So so sorry. I don’t want—no I refuse to let that argument be our last. Nor do I want those to be my last words to you.”

Of course she didn’t respond, though the bite on her neck was closing up. My phone buzzed with a text from Kol.

**3 minutes away.**

I ignored him.

“I need you Caroline… And I know… now…” I get choked up, something _the_ Original Hybrid doesn’t get, though I clear my throat and move on.  “That I should have more faith in you. And I promise, I _will_ make it up to you. Please… Just don’t be… dead.”

I was now crying. Klaus. The Immortal Hybrid, feared by all. Ruthless, heartless. Now, crying over one woman who I would rather die than live without. Since she had stumbled into my life, I needed and wanted her. Somehow I knew I needed her. And in the chase, she had conceded nothing, making her more than a match for me. She challenged me, made me, for once in my lonely existence, want someone. She made me want to do things for them, want to see them, want to be… good.

I heard my brother and the witch open the door, yelling my name and Caroline. I didn’t respond, letting the smell of blood guide my brother’s nose up the stairs. I wasn’t going to move from Caroline’s side.

I heard them walk up the stairs, Kol hit his head on the trap door. And then the door creaked open, falling to the floor with a bang. A female gasped comes from there, though I don’t even glance at them. The floor boards creaked as the magical pair tried and silently walked towards us, my brother failing utterly due to his fondness for heavy shoes.

“Is she…” The witch whispered, walking over to the other side of where Caroline lay, crouching down and running one hand over the length of the wounds, barely touching them. Bonnie pressed her hand over Caroline’s heart and then smiled a relieved smile. I listened too, and with relief I could just faintly hear the steady slow beat of her heart.

However, it was too hard to hear the other faint heartbeat that told me my child was alive.

“She’s not dead…” Bonnie said, shrugging off her own jacket and pressing her hands to the area just above her stomach, at the top of one of the red cuts. Kol put one of his hands on my shoulder, crouching next to me as Bonnie pressed her hands to the wounds, her eyes closed in concentration.

When her eyes snapped back open, the white of her smile lit up the cocoa of her face.

“The baby’s ok.” I clasped Caroline’s hand to my lips, hilariously thanking God.

However, she wasn’t waking up. Nor were those horrid red marks maiming her ivory skin decreasing in size—or going away all together.

“Wake up.” I whispered to her, dropping her hand to her side and running my hand again through her golden locks. “Why aren’t these going away?” I asked her gesturing to the slashes.

“They are cursed. You can close them, but they have to heal on their own.” She answered.

“How in the hell did the bastard curse his claws?” I spit out in disgust.

“Silas knows magic I’ve never even dreamed of.” Kol answered in horrified awe, examining the cut in a clinical scientific manner.

We just sat there in silence, watching Caroline look as though she is Sleeping Beauty.  Bonnie wrinkled her forehead, pressing her hand to Caroline’s stomach again.

“Klaus call a hospital and get an appointment for Care… She needs a sonogram.” She ordered me. I gave her a confused look , but never the less tapped  out onto my phone ‘best hospitals in Paris’ into the search engine.

Several come up, but I just chose the first one, probably the only one that spoke English, the American Hospital, clicking on the number and pressing it to my ear.

“Oui.” A woman asked on the other end.

“Do you have an OBGYN open for today? It’s an emergency.” I asked nervously, honestly not believing myself asking this.

“What sort of emergency, sir?” the receptionist asked bored.

“I’m currently here for business and my wife was in an accident. Though she is relatively uninjured, she is rather… hysterical for the wellbeing of her child.” I lied smoothly. Kol silently laughed at me.

“How far along is she?” she asks. I look helplessly at Bonnie, asking her how far along Caroline exactly was. No one really knew, I guess, given the freaky things my blood did to the growth of the child.

“I don’t know.” I lied sheepishly.

“Does tomorrow afternoon work? At 3 PM?” The woman asked.

“Yes, of course. Thank you.” I replied, hanging up the words of thanks still foreign on my tongue.

My brother now openly laughs at me, an infectious ringing sound that I hadn’t heard for such a long time. Though, since it was at my expense, I gave him my best “dangerous” glare.

However, he didn’t shut up.

He only does, when Bonnie shushed him then returned to ignoring him, as she patiently waited for Caroline to wake up.

I have never been this patient before, nor this regretful, nor this sorry for something I did. My humanity, which I forgotten I even had for countless centuries, came back in a tide, only for this girl. I didn’t feel remorse about any of my other murders and other sins. Only for Caroline.

Only for her.

*Bound By Blood*

**Caroline POV**

The pain was a tidal wave over my body, though my entire being was immobile, leaving my eyes closed and only my brain to work.

Klaus played with my hair talking to me in a quiet, kind voice that didn’t seem like him.

“I’m sorry. So so sorry. I don’t want—no I refuse to let that argument be our last. Nor do I want those to be my last words to you.” He said, more of his tears falling on my face.  He had moved me now, onto some soft fabric, my jacket, I think, with something comforting under my head. My torso was so cold though.  Though I couldn’t speak, couldn’t move, I desperately wanted to take his hand, to kiss him senseless, to tell _I_ was sorry.

“I need you Caroline… And I know… now… That I should have more faith in you. And I promise, I will make it up to you. Please… Just don’t be… dead.” He was in full out near sobbing mode now. Who would have thought that Klaus of all people would be bawling over little old me? 

Footsteps echoed from downstairs, with the heavy footfalls of a man and the light scuffing steps of a woman. They walked up the stairs coming towards me. Even this form of consciousness begins to waver, but when the sound came back into focus, I felt another’s hand on my stomach.

Just by the voices alone, I realized with comfort that Bonnie was here.  In quiet tones, she spoke to someone, a man with a deep voice and a serious sounding, though charming, British accent, only being Klaus’. A lighter male laughter filled the room.

And then silence. Two people, one person on one side of me—Bonnie played with my hair, while Klaus desperately clutched my hand in his. Somehow, I was becoming more aware, my sense sharpening and control coming back to me. The first thing that came back to me, the movement of fingers, I used to give Klaus a slight squeeze of his hand.

“Caroline?” He asked. I could almost hear the hope coming back into his voice. Slowly, painfully, I opened my eyes. Three people looked down at me.  Klaus, his curls falling over just a bit over his forehead and tears in his eyes, Kol, a sad light in his eyes slowly being replaced with that child-like joy, and Bonnie, her chocolaty hair hanging over me and a worried expression on her face.

“Hey.” I said weakly, trying to smile up at him. Relief filled his face and he dove down towards me, wrapping his arms around me and hugging me fiercely. I winced as the gashes on my stomach crumpled a bit as he sat me up still embracing me. He sniffled into in my neck, only now do I realize, I’m entirely topless aside from my bra. I pushed Klaus away, using his shoulder to keep me upright as I examined myself. Red stained my white skin.

With a gasp, I now noticed the damage that Tyler had truly done.

“The baby?” I whispered, tears coming to my eyes. Had he truly killed an innocent child, not even out of the womb?

“It’s safe… It’s safe.” Klaus reassured me, gently forcing me to lie back down on my—well Klaus’s bloody jacket. Searing pain stabbed at my abdomen, I let out a small cry. Klaus looked worriedly across my body at Bonnie.

“You should get her home…” She said quietly, getting up and dusting off her knees and heading into the bloody corner where Tyler had played all of us so well into thinking he was helpless. She picked up one of the silver metal cuffs and instantly drops it as though it burned her.

“Well stay here and try figure out what the hell happened.” Her full attention was now diverted on the cuffs. Kol joined her, him too getting burned by the metal, but never the less trying to pick them up thrice more.

Klaus regarded me gravely. Then, pulling out his phone he dialed a number.

“Bekah? Yes I know that you were asleep. Yes I know that Mother is still dead in the guest bedroom. Yes—But… Rebekah, listen. I need you or Stefan to drive one of the SUVs over to where I am…” He argued with his sister. I couldn’t help but giggle, letting pain shoot in my torso.

“I don’t care if you were in the middle of having a bitch off with Katarina! Get your ass over here!” He yelled into the phone, promptly hanging up.

“You didn’t have to be so mean.” I chided him. He chuckled darkly, and then wrapped his arms around me, taking the jacket with him, and lifted me up, gathering me into his arms. With one hand he bent down and opened the trapdoor with one foot and carries me down the stairs.

In the front room, he ripped off the sheet off of one of the couches and tenderly placed me there, as though I’m made of glass. Then he took off the sheet on the one of the chairs near it, and dragged it over so he could sit next to me, taking my hand in his.

Every so often, I would breathe a bit too deeply and cause myself to shudder in discomfort.

“You know… I heard everything you said to me.” I told him, a slightly cynical smile dancing on my lips. His face turned slightly red with embarrassment.

“You can be really poetic when you want to be…. And sweet.” I teased. Slightly sitting up on the old pillows, I smiled at him, and he just looked away, a bit embarrassed.

“Hey, I’m talking to you.” I said, punching him lightly in the arm, earning myself another shooting tongue of fiery pain. Instantly, his head snapped to look at me attentively.

“You’re a big dangerous softie.” I frankly told him with a giggle, and then wrapped my arms around him. His muscles stiffened then relaxed a bit, his arms slowly, tentatively, going around me.

“I’m sorry.” I finally returned his apology, which I only got when he thought I was dead. He didn’t say anything, still probably internally raging between giving into it and just accepting this or fighting a bit more and again, as he always tries to do, sabotage himself.

So I just let him say nothing, just let him hold me.

*Bound By Blood*

Rebekah certainly grumbled about having to drive in Parisian traffic. Berating Klaus from the moment she walked through the door, she stopped in mid-step, mid-sentence, when she saw me.

“What the hell happened to you?” She asked, Stefan nearly knocking her over as he rammed into her.

“What the fuck, Rebekah. Move!” Stefan cursed, and then just walked around her, him too stopping in his tracks when he saw me.

“Do you have the car?” Klaus asked curtly, picking me up again, my body about as limp as a rag doll. Rebekah wordlessly held up a pair of keys and Klaus snatched them from her, nearly running out the door and dropping me on the doorstep.

“Watch it!” I yelled at him as he gently laid me across the backseat of the black SUV. Rebekah and Stefan walked out behind us, still with wide, confused eyes.

Klaus tossed the keys back to Stefan, almost hitting him in his precious hair yet he caught it in the last second and walked around to the right side of the car to the driver’s seat. I had forgotten that everything to do with the road, in particularly the cars, was backward. Klaus slid into the seat next to mine, placing my head in his lap.

Stefan started the car and started to back out, but his eyes fell again on the injuries.

“Are you doing to tell us what the hell happened? And why _that_ isn’t healing?” He asked, with one eyebrow raised in a glare directed at Klaus.

“Tyler.” I answered with a hateful scowl.

“Tyler? I thought he was back in the States… Didn’t you leave him locked up somewhere after you killed Hayley.” Rebekah said curiously.

“Aren’t we all a bit confused about that?” I asked vehemently looking up at Klaus. Stefan backed out into the street and put the car into drive. Klaus shifted uncomfortably in the seat under the brunt of Rebekah and my glares.

“I needed information from him and I don’t trust anyone else with torture. Someone might slip and kill him for real.” He answered, the evil look in his eyes returning a bit. I scowled at him.

“Then where is he? Dead on the floor?” Rebekah asked.

“He got away. And considering he left me for death bleeding all over the place, Klaus made the _smart_ decision to focus on me, instead of chasing him.”

“I’ll kill him eventually. Though, that does remind me.” Klaus said dangerously, then pulling out his phone again. He quickly tapped out a text.

“Who was that too?” I questioned trying to peer at his phone which he locked the moment I got a glimpse.

“Some old friends… Let’s say Tyler can run, but he can’t hide.” He laughed ominously. I rolled my eyes, then shut them, slowly trying to fall asleep.

Eventually, in the lull of traffic and under the brunt of exhaustion, I do.

*Bound By Blood*

**Bonnie POV**

I couldn’t believe this.

Why were these stupid cuffs burning us?

Every single time either Kol or I tried to pick them up, any part of skin that hit it, instantly seared in pain, like witch vervain.

“Damn.” Kol spat disgusted, shaking off the burns from his left hand.

“But it’s not old, is it?” I ask, examining the metal **not** sex toys, though they looked like it. “I mean, Klaus didn’t do it… He wouldn’t right?”

Kol ran his hand just above the metal, the tingle of magic coming from his fingertips, making my own want to leap out and just do something. He slammed his hand to the ground with frustrated “shit!” his hand red for absolutely no reason what so ever. Magic didn’t cause skin to change.

“What?” I reached out my own hand towards the cuffs, but he jerked it away, the hand reverting to its normal color.

“It’s cursed. Some Aramaic spell, by the feel of it, but once Silas used magic to unlock them…” He spread his arms letting me imply the rest of it. I grabbed my jacket from the floor beside me and use it to wrap all four of the silver cuffs in. Then, I tied it together and handed it to Kol.

He dropped it on the floor and took my hand. When I gave him an odd look, he tugged me towards the trapdoor. Reluctantly, I let him pull me down the stairs and out the door, the boyish grin lighting up his face as he led me—no dragged me down the street and onto a broader boulevard.

“Where are we going?” I laughed, pushing my sunglasses from their perch on my head to the bridge of my nose, shielding my eyes from the late afternoon sun.

“Haven’t been here in years!” He loudly told me, swerving around another corner.

“Where. Are. We. Going?” I gasped, clearly out of breath as I was not gifted with supernatural strength, speed, or stamina.

As we rounded another corner, Kol almost like a child in his dead run, I realized where we’re going. Paris’ Haven, the few spots of green in the city surrounding a stately old manor.

“Behold. The Luxembourg Gardens, milady.” He said extravagantly with a flourishing bow. I laughed at him, and then raised one eyebrow as he chivalrously offered me his hand. I take it warily and again he pulled me along the green, around trees, bushes, and flower beds. Under some extremely overgrown vines, we reached a clearing that looked like it hadn’t been touched in a century or two. He stood there with a sad little smile on his face, seeing as he had been here before, this place probably unrecognizable, yet himself still the same.

“When I was last here, Nik and I would spend most of time here. We didn’t bother each other. He would paint and I… I would study… You can almost feel the nature here, can’t you?” He looked down at me, the sadness still in his eyes. I smiled at him reassuringly, giving his hand a slight squeeze.

“Tell me more.” I asked him, sitting down on the grass, Indian style, waiting patiently for him.

And he did. I was brought beyond the Parisian gardens, woven through the streets of Paris, centuries of history pressing down on me. But, I could only wonder what this burden was for Kol to bear.

Lying on my back in the cool vibrant green grass, my hair flying out in a wave behind me, his head touching mine, we watched the sun set, partially obscured by the over grown trees.

“What do we do now?” I asked him, after a long, prolonged silence.

“With what?”

“Everything. Silas, Mikael, Tyler, the veil…” I hesitated at the end.

“Us?” He finished for me, rolling over onto his stomach, pushing himself up and looking upside down at me from above. I smiled at him, reaching my hands up to grip his face and pull it down onto mine, bringing my boyfriend in for a kiss.

Honestly, I didn’t know what to call him. Boyfriend? No, it didn’t fit Kol. Lover? With an embarrassed blush, I decided against it, given we hadn’t even done… it yet. For now, I had to be just content with him being my… Kol.

He finally answered my question, grinning down at me between kisses.

“I don’t know what we are going to do…” He said his eyes flinty with determination. “But, we’ll do it together.”

I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him back down on top of me.

**Please don’t hate me too much for this chapter! I figure that everything can’t be all champagne and snowflakes ;)**

**Translation of Bonnie’s spell:**

**Death is the door**

**Open**

**One by one**

**Open**

**Ties this world**

**Breach**

**Stay**

**Translation of Kol’s spell:**

**Close the doors**

**Keep souls woken here**

**Close the doors**

**Let none go through any longer**

**Close the doors**

 

 

 


	28. The Family Mikaelson

Bound By Blood

**Chapter XIV: The Family Mikaelson**

_At first you moved,_

_only a little._

_I could always find you,_

_right in the middle._

_As time went on,_

_you really started to grow._

_It wasn't a whole lot,_

_in fact, it was rather slow._

_Before I knew it,_

_you were all over the place._

_It kind of felt like,_

_you were running a race._

_People would ask me,_

_if, you were a boy or a girl._

_I would sit and wonder,_

_if, you would have curls._

_There are so many things,_

_I really want to know._

_But, you are hidden inside,_

_so the answers don't show._

_How much will you weigh?_

_How tall will you be?_

_What color is your hair?_

_Will you even like me?_

_I hope and pray,_

_you feel like you belong._

_I never want you to feel,_

_like you are alone._

_Your Dad and I,_

_planned you from the start._

_You, my dear child,_

_were made straight from our hearts._

_In about a week or so,_

_I'll meet you, for the first time._

_For you are the product,_

_of your Dad's love and mine._

_There will be no one like you,_

_not any place in the world._

_It really doesn't matter,_

_if you are a boy or a girl._

_We are both so happy,_

_that you even exist._

_The gender doesn't matter._

_you'll be hard to resist._

_I hope I make you proud,_

_that I am your mother everyday._

_Because, you have filled my dreams,_

_in more ways, than words can say._

_It won't be long before,_

_I can look you in the eyes._

_I can feel the excitement growing,_

_I know I'm going to cry._

_Don't worry my angel,_

_those tears will be of joy._

_It won't matter to me,_

_if you are a girl or a boy._

_-R.M. Linn, A Boy or A Girl_

****

**Caroline POV**

I didn’t leave the house but once that week. But, to be more accurate, Klaus didn’t even let me move without his assistance.

He had carried me into the house, up the stairs, and through the main living room/kitchen on the second floor, among the gasps and questions of the other occupants of the house. Completely ignoring all of them, he didn’t even pause until we were up the second set of stairs and in our bedroom. Gently, he laid me on the bed and sped into the bathroom. While he was gone, I painfully pushed myself up to a sitting position.

It was frustrating, being this helpless. Daggers of sharp stabbing pain shoot up my body as I tried and reached over my stomach in vain to take off my pain. Grumbling, I listened to the tub faucet creak on and the sound of rushing water fill the adjoining rooms.

“Klaus!” I called, at least succeeding in freeing myself of my bra. I toss it across the room and onto the chair with a wince. He walked into the room, and momentarily paused at the sight of my fully naked upper body.

I laughed despite the pain.

“Get over here.” I motioned with over. Tentatively he sits down beside me. “Help me get my pants off.” I muttered, embarrassed. His eyes instantly turned into saucers, then traced the length of my ly partially clad body.

“Never did I think I would hear _that_ particular phrase out of your mouth, love.” He said, jokily as he unbuttoned them and slowly dragged them down my legs, along with my blue lace panties. He met my eyes, a naughty expression on his face, similar to the one he had worn when he had told me how “ravishing” I looked in his dress. I raised one eyebrow, blatantly telling him that he was still stuck in the doghouse, and his eyes go back to his work. He then, threw them across the room, to land in the dirty clothes pile I _should_ get around to washing.

Klaus picked me up bridal style, and in one motion, swiftly carried me to the tub. I was tempted to glare at him just for making me feel so helpless, like a damsel in distress, but for once he was caring. He was acting human, so technically I couldn’t call him out on it, even though he was still drenched in Tyler’s dried blood, stains of cruelty, and mine, stains of kindness.

The bathtub is quite large, shiny copper, large enough to fit at least three people, and longer than a normal person’s body length. Klaus lowered me into the water, though once I was fully in the warm water, I didn’t unwrap my arms from his neck.

With a devious smile, as he tried to pull away and untangle himself from me, I pulled him in with me with a large splash, clothes and all.

He came up sputtering and shaking out his dripping curls. With an annoyed glare, which I merely respond with a bright smile, he took off the soaked bloodstained shirt and tossed it across the room. The dark washed jeans came next, also bloody, landing in the quickly forming wet pile. Of course, he wasn’t wearing underwear as usual…

His necklaces hung down his sculpted chest, a mingling of dark wood, strong leather, and clinking metal, as he lied back beside me.

“You’re evil, you know that?” He said a smirk on his lips, splashing me. I rolled my eyes and dunk my head under; fully wetting my already damp blonde curls.

Wincing, I brought myself up to lie back on Klaus’s chest. His arms go around me immediately, his hands gently resting on my stomach. I regarded the wounds with a glare.

“Why aren’t they healing?” I whined, hoping that my glare could make them disappear. He gave me a sad look, like the one a puppy would give if they had the emotional capacity to regret, his eyes big, blue, and watery.

“Silas knows magic that is older than me. None of us are surprised he still has a couple of nasty tricks up his sleeve.” He said, his hands making a loop between the injuries. My eyes followed those large hands, which makes butterflies in my stomach, and callous, a sensation that makes me giggle. They stopped in between the second and the third, poised lightly and curved as though he’s playing a piano. I placed my right hand over his, letting his massive hand go over the wounds. It didn’t hurt, there was no weight there, but I felt good just knowing that we are all safe.

Then, of course, I remembered how the hell this happened. The memories came flooding back to me in waves. Me, being stupidly trusting, believing everyone deserved a second chance. My blood on the floor. But, most of all, how heartless Tyler had been as he tried in vain to kill my child. In spite of myself, I started to cry, heaving tears coming down my cheek. Klaus wrapped his other arm around me, pulling into his chest as the water moves with me.

I never was a pretty crier. I probably looked worse than normal right now, given my gross wet hair, swollen stomach, and scars all over the place. Though, Klaus let me cry into him anyway.

When I had finished my initial breakdown, I looked up at him. Klaus looked down at me with a sad expression on his face. He regretted this. No, not me, nor this baby, but letting Tyler hurt me. I brought my hand up to his face, letting the water run down his skin as I left it there.

“You are going to kill him, right?” I said. My eyes hard. He looked surprised at me for a second and then gave me an evil grin.

“Did you learn your lesson?” He asked. I looked confusedly at him.

“What lesson?”

“It’s better to let sleeping dogs lie?” I gave him a look, but never the less nodded my head. Finally, he answered my question.

“Just killing him would be too kind love. I think I’m going to show him what real torture is.”

I surprised even myself when I grinned back at him with an equally vengeful smile.

*Bound By Blood*

“So… what the hell happened to you?” Katherine asked, breaking the awkward silence that had befallen the breakfast table. Klaus gave her a dangerous glare, while I merely stared down at my plate. I had forced Klaus to carry me down here, not wanting to feel so worthless, though now I was regretting my decision. Honestly, _everyone_ was staring at me. Well, almost everyone. Jeremy was too preoccupied with glaring at Kol who was love-sickly staring at Bonnie, whose hair was rumpled beyond any hope of repair.

“My ex. That’s what happened. And I’m going to kill him the next time I see him. Any other questions?” I snapped irritably.

Damon laughed. Elena glared at him, while everyone just looked surprised at my viciousness.

“What’s so funny, Salvatore?” Klaus threatened acidly.

“Caroline has a taste in psychopaths I guess. Then again, she sounds pretty crazy herself.” He said with a shrug. Both Klaus and I shoot him death glares, though he still continued.

“Though I never pegged Tyler as one… Now…. I think it’s safe to say he’s even crazier than you Papa Hybrid.” His eyebrows rose cynically as he started to take a drink out of the wine glass of blood. Then, just as he was taking a sip, Elena smacked hit on the back of the head as hard as she could, causing him to choke.

Stefan patted his brother on the back, muttering “It’s your own fault” into Damon’s ear, though all of us could hear him.  Elena wore a self-satisfied smile on her face, while casually playing with her brother’s hair. They were inseparable, really. Well, technically, Jeremy was suffering from being smothered, though it didn’t affect his mood. He mainly sat sending threatening glares at Kol and Bonnie.

The magical twosome hadn’t come back with us, not returning to the house hand-in hand laughing until well after dark. They had smelled like grass and both had more than a few dirt stains in various places. Thankfully, this morning, we hadn’t caught them in a near compromising position like we normally would.

Finn and Sage hadn’t even made an appearance this morning, according to Elijah; they preferred to explore the city where they had met.

Elijah and Katherine seemed mostly quiet, with only Katherine occasionally interjecting a snarky comment. Of course, both of them looked like models for sleepwear, their hair perfect and clothes not even slightly rumpled.

The real elephant in the room was, of course, just a floor away. The Original Witch could awaken at any moment. All of us, at one time or another, accidentally or directly, had been betrayed by her, hurt by her. There was no love for her in this home.

With our supernatural hearing and Bonnie’s acute witch senses, I was surprised when I saw Ester standing in the doorway looking as regal—and deadly—as her children.

“Good morning.” She said plainly. The room, which had already been quiet, went dead silent. No clank of silverware, no sound of breath. Slowly, purposely, her heels clicked on the marble floor as she walked to the opposite end of the table, to the other head chair.

The table had been massive to begin with, made to seat at least twenty, so our group had just sat at one end. She sat down in the chair as though she belonged here, though everyone was sending her death glares, still not moving.

Though she scared the living shit out of me, I couldn’t help but admire her regality. She looked like a queen, her golden hair forming a crown, and her long black dress made her look slightly evil. She regarded each of us in turn with a cold, inquisitive expression I had once seen on Klaus. With a raised eyebrow, her steely gaze passed over Elijah and Katherine, his hand almost stuck on the strap of her black lacy nightgown. With a hint of a bemused smile, her eyes swept past the magical duo. Both were completely stilll, Bonnie’s hand over Kol’s, whose finger tips were shooting out angry black and purple sparks, turning the table black. Her eyes hardened at the sight of Elena, who had messed up her “perfect” plan, and Alaric, who looked as though he was about to gut her. She passed over Stefan and Rebekah, who for once looked scared, and came to a stop on Klaus and I.

Sometime during her entire sweep, Klaus had protectively placed his arm around my waist, pulling me into him. His eyes were dark and skittish, like an animal threatened by fire. She raised one eyebrow, looking us over.

“Are you just going to stare _Esther_?” He growled, the animal already coming out to play. Calmingly, I place a hand on his bicep. Her eyebrow lowered, and her expression turned darkly teasing.

“Actually, Niklaus, I was going to ask why that girl who scorned you so is with you. But by her ‘girth’ I take it you settled that.” She said coyly. Klaus wrapped his arm around my waist ever tighter, nearly pulling me out of my chair. I compensated by walking over to sit in his lap. Damon rolled his eyes, breaking the silent stand-off.

“Blondie, could you please keep it PG? There are children present.” He said, motioning to Jeremy with his head. The younger Gilbert gave him a death glare.

Wordlessly, Elena tugged on Damon’s hand, looking fearfully at Esther with her wide doe eyes. Damon looked at her, and without saying anything more, he lead her from the room with Jeremy following. Alaric followed them as well, not before shooting the Original Witch a glare that could kill. Bonnie had been playing with Kol’s fingers this whole time, avoiding Esther’s gaze. However, when her hardy stare kept boring into her, she had to look up eventually.

Of course, Bonnie completely ignored her and instead turned to me.

“Hey Care, can I look at your injury before you go to the doctor today?” My head shot up in surprise and I whirled around to look at Klaus.

“What do you mean _the doctor_? I don’t remember scheduling an appointment.” I said venomously, giving Klaus my most threatening glare.

“Your friend Bonnie made me schedule an appointment for today…” He said, looking imploringly at her to take some of the blame.

“Whatever.” I muttered. “When?” I sighed, getting up and looking back over my shoulder. Bonnie was poised to stand as well, and Stefan looked like he was ready to bolt. Katherine just looked mildly amused at the scene.

“Three.” Bonnie said, walking over to me, her hand trailing over Kol’s shoulder as giving him a squeeze on his shoulder. “Come on, I need to look at those wounds magically before you go.” She took my hand, and I went along with her, feeling like I was abandoning Klaus. I looked back once at him, a worried expression on my face as Bonnie tried to tug me out of the line of fire. His hard expression, which had been directed at his mother, softened a bit when he looked at me. He mouthed “go” which a wave of his hand shooing me out the door.

The last glimpse I saw of the room was a stand-off. The Mikaelson siblings were all trying to stare their mother down while she merely looked intuitively in turn at each of her children.

All of them, together, probably equaled a nuclear explosion of power.

I walked purposefully up the stairs and toward Bonnie’s bedroom waiting for the impending screams.

*Bound By Blood*

**Klaus POV**

Rebekah broke the silence.

“If you’re going to kill us, could you please stop acting like our mother?” She said with her arms crossed defiantly over her chest.

Ester opened her mouth to respond, but Kol cut her off.

“Rebekah dear, it’s called intimidation. By acting out of character, she is threatening us more than she can do normally.” He said, taking a sip of his blood, his fangs popping out. He, of course, forgetting his manners, left them out gleaning in the morning sunlight.

“I’m not going to kill you.” She said her eyes somehow boring into all of us at the same time.

“Why the sudden change of heart? We _are_ abominations, in your words.” Elijah quoted.

“It’s typically called lying, ‘Lijah.” I answered, still giving Ester the death glare.

“You are atrocities…” She said, leaving forward and baring a grin that was supposed to look loving and friendly, but of course, it being _her_ it was quite difficult for her to pull off. Her hand stopped Kol from interjecting further. “But, there are greater monsters in the world to be put down than you.” She said the last word with contempt.

“Who? Last time you saw us, you wanted nothing more than to fill our graves with dirt and be done with us.” Rebekah asked suspiciously.

“I only turned you for your protection. I obviously made a mistake, though there are more pressing things at hand than the heresy that is your two brothers even existing.” My insides burned as she gestured to Kol and I. We had always been her least favorites. Least loved and least cared for. I would have rather been raised by wolves than her. At least they would have protected us when Mikael lashed out. Kol looked at me, his face drained of color and his eyes glinted with old memories. Even now, we were our mother’s worst monsters.

“Silas has awoken, partly due to your idiocy. He intends to unleash hell on earth, undoing generations of witches’ work. I won’t allow him to destroy it.” She stubbornly said, her arms crossed over her chest.

“I hate you.” Kol said, wiping his mouth with his cream cloth napkin and sort of throwing it on the table. “If you want to ‘help’ fine by me, but… watch yourself.” He wiggled his fingers at Esther, purple sparks falling from them onto the white marble. And then he was gone.

“Do you have the Cure?” Esther asked, turning to Elijah. Awkwardly, he went to loosen his ever present tie, but remembered he is wearing pajamas, settling for popping his collar.

“I’m not ready to disclose that information at this time. Kol clearly doesn’t trust you, as he did flee the room. Neither do I.” He said harshly.

“You would just love to shove it down one of our throats, wouldn’t you?” Rebekah interjected vehemently. “Particularly Nik, since he couldn’t turn back.”

It hadn’t even occurred to me that she was just playing us again.

I got up, my eyes going slightly yellow in a haze of anger.

“You may think of me as a monster, but the only monster here is you. The one thing I don’t turn against is family.” And with that I sped out the door.

I had had enough of my mother for one day. I had an appointment with, apparently, my wife.

*Bound By Blood*

**Caroline POV**

Bonnie led me to the bed, balancing a spell book and a mortar full of an odd concoction of herbs. The fridge next to the bed laid open, spilling out blood onto the carpeted floor.

“Pull up your shirt, Care.” She ordered me, setting the various things down on the bedside table, already cluttered with various objects.

I did as she told me, exposing my midriff and the ugly scabbed scars to the chilly air. She glanced at them grimly, while lightly pouring and spreading out the freaky herb concoction on the skin and then muttered a few words, with her hands poised over the skin and her eyes closed.

A strange purple ball shimmers into existence directly above my stomach. As I look at with curiosity, Bonnie opened her eyes and stared deeply into it; at something I could not see.

“Just as I thought.” She said to mainly herself, as she reached down into the mini fridge.

“What did you think?” I asked, my eyes flitting between watching her and staring at the sphere of light. She flipped her head back up, giving me a wide white grin, and handed me a glass vial of blood. I took it and turned it over in my hands, my brow scrunched up pondering what the hell it was.

“It’s not poison, Care.” Bonnie said.

“Then what is it?” I turned the vial over and over in my hands.

“Klaus’s blood mixed with a few herbs and frozen.” She said blandly. I raised one eyebrow.

“You do realize that I don’t want to risk increasing the growth of my baby any more than is absolutely necessary.”

“From what Kol and I have researched, this won’t speed it up more than two weeks, max. The herbs in here direct it more at healing these curse wounds and since it was frozen, Kol has a theory. In a small portion, the power of it decreases.” I blankly stared at her, again doing her know it all witchy thing where I didn’t understand half—ok any of it. But, it seemed alright, I mean it’s Bonnie for god’s sake, so I rip off the stopper and down the vial.

Instantly, I felt better, like I always do after I have blood, particularly Klaus’s. I don’t know what it was about it. Maybe it’s because I don’t drink live blood, or maybe because of his “hybrid-ness” it was exotic, other worldly. Like a bouquet of chocolate. Though it was frozen, it was still one of the best things I have even tasted.

She watched my stomach clinically as the wounds started closing, and without even moving her eyes from the area, she handed me a blood bag. I drained it and she handed me yet another, still watching the purple ball of energy fluxgate and grow.

Gently laying the two empty bags beside me, I looked at the wounds close, and my stomach looked as though I had never been attacked. Bonnie got up, making a circle with her hand and the ball of energy sputtered and flickered out of existence. She offered her hand to me, helping me to my feet. I rocked back and forth, gripping her shoulder to catch my balance.

“You’re going to need to rest this week.” She ordered me, leading me out the door and towards my bedroom. In the hall, we nearly crashed into a stormy faced Kol. He tried to give Bonnie a grin, but it just comes out as a grimace as he stormed towards his room and slammed the door. I exchanged a look with Bonnie and we both rolled our eyes.

In my closet, I sorted through the racks, desperate for something to wear. Bonnie lounged on the chaise, surveying the room and flipping through a copy of People. In the distance, we hear Kol having a tantrum in his room.

I held up two dresses, a mint green lace dress and a pale blue shirt dress closed with buttons and an attached  white skirt, ending a couple of inches above my knee. Bonnie looked up from her magazine and smiled, gesturing to the blue one.

“It looks like something that Kate wore.” She said, tapping the magazine. I grinned back at her, honored. Personally, I adored the Duchess.

I slipped the dress on over my head, checking myself out in the mirror. I actually looked good even though my bump, which no longer looked petite in the slightest instead round, ballooned out the dress. I sat down at the vanity, pulling my hair out of the neck of my dress, and opened my makeup bag, letting all my cosmetics I had accumulated in my years, spill out. I must have bought at least 100 new things on my travels alone though.

As I start applying foundation, Bonnie tossed her People to the side and got up, grabbing a brush from the marble vanity counter top and began to tug it through my tangled gold locks.

“Thanks Bon.” I said, as I worked with my eye make-up, going for a light, pretty palette to complement my dress.

“Your hair’s always been a mess Care.” She frowned at a particularly stubborn patch in the back, and then goes back to racking the hairbrush through the stubborn tangle.

I keep doing my makeup and Bonnie started braiding and pinning, eventually turning it into a braid starting on the left of my head and snaking around to waterfall down on my right shoulder.

“Thanks Bon.” I said, turning around in the stool and wrapping my arms around her. I couldn’t exactly hug her well, given that my stomach stopped me, but I managed.

My ears perked up as I heard the sound of stomping feet coming up the stairs and the sounds of crashes going from Kol’s room. I raised one eyebrow at Bonnie, who was looking concerned at the door.

“Do you need to go contain that?” I asked, not really a question. She rolled her eyes at me and walked over to the door opening it, only to find one semi-pissed hybrid on the other end. She opened the door further, letting him pass then walked out, giving me a small wave.

I walked out of the closet, past the bathroom, and into the bedroom, where Klaus had collapsed back onto the bed, still in his pajamas. I sat down lightly on the grey comforter next to him where he laid facedown, running my hand through his short curly hair.

“So… I assume it didn’t go well.” I said quietly. He nodded rolling over and pressing his hands over his eyes stressfully.

“What did she say?” I asked, glancing at the clock on the bedside table. Good, only 11.

“A bunch of bullshit.” He muttered, pushing himself of the bed, hurriedly and roughly. I trailed after him into the closet. His face was dark and brooding as he ripped through his rack of suits, choosing one out of many black ones. He stripped of his plain t-shirt as I watched from the chaise, flipping through the same People that had so entertained Bonnie earlier.

“Care to elaborate or would you just like to brood like Stefan?”

He gave me a dangerous look, though it doesn’t intimidate me, merely looking like a puppy trying to growl.

“She wants to help us… Saying that’s there greater evil in this world than us… But, the first thing she asked for was the Cure.” He scoffed, pulling on the pair of pants.

“And you of course assumed she was lying.” I mused.

“She’s my mother… She practically invented the art.”

I chuckled softly and got up to help him into his jacket, which surprisingly, he was struggling to get on partly due to his “mild” anger.

“Thanks, love.” He encircled his hand around my waist, giving me a quick peck on the cheek and then grasped my hand, pulling me out the door. I detached myself from him, grabbing the small nude Chanel bag that matched my flats and ran after him, where he held open the door.

Hurrying down the stairs and into the living room, again we came face to face with Esther. Stopping for half a second, Klaus gave her the death glare before rushing down the stairs and out the door. I gave the witch a less than kind glare as well, before following him.

*Bound By Blood*

**Kol POV**

My temper had never been my friend over the years.

Ironically enough, my ‘gifts’ had started because of my temper. And they only got worse from there.

In a haze, I was a whirlwind of my emotions, taking out whatever I could on the books, the drapes, the sheets, the furniture. Occasionally, a couple of sparks would fly dangerously hitting some paper I had viciously ripped out of a old book.

I wasn’t even warming up, looking wildly around for my bat, when an angry rap on the door interrupted me.

“Kol?” My Denver buddy shouts angrily through the wood. I internally groan, in no mood to deal with the Little Gilbert at the moment. When I don’t respond, holding a Oriental vase of my heart ready to smash, he raps on the door again, harsher this time. “KOL! Open up dude.”

I ignore him, sending the pottery to the floor with a satisfying shatter. The hunter then decides to take it upon himself to barge into _my_ room.

He stares stunned at the wreckage for a second, then a mocking smile lights up his face as he crosses his arms over his chest.

“Didn’t know you had a fetish for recreating Disney movie scenes.” He said, iron in his voice.

“What in the hell is that?” Unlike my other siblings, I had only really assimilated into the technology and music of the age. I never was one for picture shows.

“In Beauty and the Beast. When the monster tears apart the room and the girl gets Stockholm Syndrome." He said, looking down at me in that know-it-all sort of way just because I didn’t know some random chick flick.

“Surprised at you, Little Gilbert. Referencing a chick flick. Tell me, is that all you watched after you popped a joint?” I lashed out. Today, I had had _enough_ of people looking down their noses at me. First my mother, now this fly.

“I don’t know, freak. Fits the situation pretty accurately. Monster steals the girl, goes raging psychopath sometimes, weird romantic the others.” My eyes narrow. He really wanted to play this game.

“You never finished the film, did you? Lucky for your puny modern brain, I’ve read the book. It wasn’t Stockholm Syndrome. The _smart. Beautiful. Strong. **Woman.**_ Ends up with the ‘monster’ because he fully appreciates her qualities, unlike the _hunter_ in the village. Who is a possessive twat.” I smile vehemently, as I hear the boy’s heart rate pick up and his temper flare as he lunged at me, a wild punch directed at my face. I easy duck, throwing one of my own.

“You. Don’t. Deserve. Her.” He says through gritted teeth. “You’re. A. Vampire.”

“You don’t have a problem with your sister. And you certainly didn’t have a problem when your ‘parents’ came to pick you up in Denver.” I dance away from his flying fists, though with his ‘hunter powers’ he did manage to hit me with a halfway decent cross.

“You’re just a rebound.” He spat. “She’ll eventually come back to me.”

“Wasn’t that all she was to you? A replacement, a surrogate, whilst you were still in love with that ghost?” I swing at him, hitting him squarely in the jaw with a resounding, satisfying crack. The Hunter falls to the floor, clutching the jaw.

“Go to hell.” He says, crawling towards the door as I aim a gallant kick at his ribs. I barely miss.

“We’ve both been there, mate.” I crouch down to whisper in his ear. “Neither of us deserve that.”

“You do.” He says, blood dripping out of his mouth. And that’s when my temper goes over the dam. In a blind rage, I swing my arm back and crash my fist right between his eyes. I watch the light go out of them as he goes unconscious. Finally, tears come to me.

Did I deserve hell? My mother seemed to think so. At one time, my whole family did. Did the whole world think that I deserved hell when I only wanted to help?

**Bonnie POV**

I opened the door with a creak.

Oh shit.

Kol had been a hurricane. Literally, he probably could be classified at the very least a Category 1. Our room was a mess, paper strewn about, books off their shelves, the sheets of the bed hanging precariously from a leaning bookcase ready to fall over. Jeremy’s unconscious body was part of the wreckage, as horrifying as it may have been.

Yet, I was most stunned by Kol.

And the man was at the center of this mess, looking completely and utterly defeated. Crumpled to the floor, his head was in his hands, tears hitting the floor.

“Kol?” I ask quietly, stepping over Jeremy’s form with some regret. I tried to walk further into the room, but am stopped by the lack of a walk way. I survey the mess, I wave my hand, muttering a few Latin words.

The objects in the room, which had previously been a total wreck, began to move, flying up to their original places. The glass mended itself, the torn pages sewed themselves back in. The hole in the wall I hadn’t noticed disappeared. Even Jeremy’s body zoomed out of the room.

Kol still sat hunched on the now clean floor, just barely looking up at me. Tears shone off of his face and his eyes. Oh his eyes. His soul laid there in those dark, usually twinkling eyes. He was angry, scared, suspicious and hurt.

Old wounds have been opened, injuries he wanted to forever be closed.

In a second, the walls came down, the anger disappeared from those eyes and there were just tears to replace it. As the first one tried to fall down onto his cheek, he roughly wrapped his arms around my waist, in an attack hug that drew me in as his own personal teddy bear. I leaned over him, gently smoothing his hair.

“What did they say to you?” I tried and lead him over to the bed, but he steadfastly refused, clinging to me ever tighter.

He sniffled into my pajama shirt, which, from experience, I knew didn’t have much use for drying tears, being silk. I had cried in these when Jeremy left for Denver. God what had Jeremy done?

After a few minutes of letting him breakdown into my shirt, I slowly lead him to the bed, sitting down and letting him fall beside me, his arms still clinging like a koala to me.

Kol’s hair was pretty boy hair. It was a nice color, a warm brown, shiny, and surprisingly soft. I liked running my hands through it, waiting for him to finish this inevitable—though drawn out—breakdown.

I begin planting little kisses on that now ruffled hair. He started to freeze realizing what exactly I was doing as I purposefully made my way towards his lips. I stopped, my mouth centimeters away from his, staring deeply into his eyes. He clearly didn’t want to talk, but he didn’t need to bear the burden alone.

He had taught me the spell that I used. An Arabic one, to let you into someone’s mind like a vampire could do, translated to “see into the mind,” but written like “إلى العقل.”

His memories shown like diamonds in the tears streaking his face, words appeared in my head that I didn’t even think of. One glimmering dark jewel of a memory stood out however.

“…The heresy of your two brothers even existing.” Ester said, gesturing to Kol and Klaus. Tears blurred the rest of the memory, though they don’t fall. Another one glistened.

““Go to hell.” Jeremy said, battered, bruised, and bloody.

“We’ve both been there, mate. Neither of us deserve that.” Kol said.

“You do.” Jeremy spat.

That was the crux of the situation.

I had known from seeing some of his other thoughts previously that he and Klaus had always been the outcasts of the family. Both had acted differently, Klaus hiding behind his artist’s mask, and Kol, having fun. Both would take their beatings and never speak of them.

And here their mother was, walking back into their lives, after doing nothing all those years of feeling unwanted, and blatantly telling them they shouldn’t exist.

At that moment, I had never hated Esther more. Never had I felt so much resentment towards Jeremy.

As I looked into his eyes, he suddenly grasped the sides of my head, pulling my lips into his for a thankful, though surprisingly passionate kiss. I brought my arms up around his neck, and pulled him in closer to me, moving onto his lap.

The sweetest, most honest kiss of my life. Had I ever really known love before?

Kol, the broken man. Kol, who had been called “freak” or “monster” his whole life, held my heart. As I desperately tried to hold his ruined one.

*Bound By Blood*

**Caroline POV**

“Mikaelson?” A woman called out in the waiting room. I tossed my parenting magazine to the side as Klaus slid his phone into his pocket, helping me up and leading me through the door.

“On the left. Dr. Leroux will be with you shortly. ” She said with a slight French accent, pointing to a door. Klaus slightly inclined his head as I pushed through the door. He came after me, shutting the door behind him.

The room was decorated in posters of pregnant woman and pictures of fetuses in the womb. I hoisted myself out onto the padded table in the center of the room. Klaus drew up a chair beside it, glancing uncomfortably around the room.

“You ok?” I asked him, taking his large hand in my much smaller one.

“Of course.” He answered, not meeting my eyes. I smiled at him reassuringly, my hand placed in a motherly gesture over my stomach. He gave my hand a squeeze as the door opened and an older woman in a white coat walked in.

“Mr. and Mrs. Mikaelson?” She asks in a slight French accent, looking at a clear clipboard with a stack of papers on there. “I’m Dr. Celine Leroux.” She was around her mid-fifties, with dark hair interspersed with gray and tied in a low bun at the back of her head, along with a pair of large black glasses perched on her nose. “I’m just going to ask you a couple of questions before I start with the sonogram.”

She glanced down at the clipboard, gripping pen.

“So, how long have you been married?” She asks. I look at Klaus for help.

“A year.” He answered smoothly.

“And what do you do for a living, Mr. Mikaelson?” She didn’t even look up, writing notes on the paper.

“I’m an art dealer.” He lies.

“Now, Mrs. Mikaelson, how sexually active were you before you discovered you were pregnant?” My face went hot, and I stared at my hands lying on my stomach, embarrassed. I could _hear_ Klaus’s smirk. I glared at him.

“About five times a week.” I muttered and she scribbled.

“And how far along do you _think_ you are?” I started doing the math in my head, factoring in the blood to speed it up.

“4…ish months?” I said, my eyebrows quirking as I reasoned. She nodded and scribbled some more.

“Alright, Mrs. Mikaelson, I’m just going to take your blood pressure and then we’ll get started.” I glanced panicked at Klaus as she wrapped the cuff around my arm. My heart beat probably wouldn’t even register on this thing.

Klaus, however, saved me.

His pupils widening, he looked the doctor in the eyes, getting her under the power of compulsion.

“You already took Caroline’s blood pressure.” He said, in a sort of hypnotic voice. “And you will ignore anything out of the ordinary with her heartbeat—or that of the baby’s.” He then looked away, returning to chair. The doctor blinked, and then smiled at me.

“You ready?” She asked, getting up and washing her hands, then reaching for a pair of latex gloves on a stainless steel table attached to the cushioned table where I laid. She slid them on her fingers, with a snap, and opened a small fridge under the counter top. The doctor pulled out a bottle of something blue, then came back over to her stool on the other side of me.

“Could you please unbutton your shirt?” She asked. I blushed, starting to work on the buttons, eventually getting it undone. I slipped my arms out of the top and put it under my back, exposing the bump, looking good as new.

Klaus’s eyebrows rose slightly at its healed condition but he said nothing, remembering how we have a nature cheat sheet in the form of Bonnie and Kol.

Sharp cold hits my body in waves as the doctor slapped the gel onto my stomach. I slightly gasped at the surprise and Klaus squeezed my hand in reassurance.

Silently, she then took a small machine from the metal table, pressing an ‘on’ switch. The mechanism buzzed and hummed, as she started to run it over my stomach, with her other hand tilting a small television screen towards us.

She went on like this for several minutes, Klaus still holding my hand tightly, though he looked rather befuddled at the entire situation. Setting the device aside, she rolled over to a computer, tapping a few keys.

An image appeared on the screen, black and white and fuzzy. The doctor rolled back over to us, still holding the keyboard on her lap.

“Well, the fetus is about 18 weeks old.” She said scientifically, tapping her pen at the screen. A smile split my face as, for the first time, I was truly able to _look_ at my—our baby. I turned to look at Klaus, who’s wearing a dopey grin that stretched across his whole face.

“He’s a strong little thing.” The doctor remarked, slightly happy. I did a double take.

“He?” Klaus said, putting his other hand on the screen. The doctor smiled, nodding her head.

“It’s a boy.” She confirmed. “Would you like a couple of photographs?” I nodded, still staring in wonder at the screen. Silently, smiling, she left the room.

I brought Klaus’s hand and my hand intertwined to my lips, with my other hand on the monitor.

That was my—our baby. _Our son._ Another life, created by _us._

A sniffled came from Klaus. I turned to him with a couple of tears of my own shining on my face to smile at him.

“Our son.” I whispered, running my hand down the screen to rest on my stomach.                  

Klaus brought his other hand over mine on my stomach, he too feeling the small movement of our son. I liked the sound of that. Son. My son. Our son.

The doctor came back in quietly, as we sat there in our little familial moment. She noticed then, placing the stack of photographs on the counter and walking over to Klaus.

“Would you like me to take your card now?” She whispered. Wordlessly, he handed her the shiny black American Express and she left the room.

I grabbed the photographs, taking one from the top to look at, and putting the rest in my purse. I admired it for a second, getting up and buttoning back up my top, before handing it to Klaus. He stared at it confused, before realizing what exactly to do with it and slipped it into his wallet.

“Come on.” He said, after he got his card back from the doctor and signing the receipt. He took my hand, and gently lead me down the hallway and out into the late afternoon sun. He sticks his hand up on the curb, trying to get one of the many black Parisian taxis.

“Where are we going?” I asked, sidling up beside him and knitting my hands in his.

“I promised to take you anywhere right?” He said, my favorite smirk playing on his face. It was distinctly different from his “evil villain” smirk, though a lot closer to the “oh my siblings” look. He only wore this look with me.

“Paris, Rome, Tokyo.” I quoted, smiling up at him.

“Then, I intend to show you the very best of Paris, love.” He said, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me into one of those fairy tale kisses, time seeming to stop around us.

*Bound By Blood*

“Mom?” I looked out into the metal structure standing not too far away from me from a little rickety table in one of those classical Parisian cafes. Klaus sat opposite from me, jabbering to some man on the phone in rapid… German? About some painting.

“Caroline? Honey?” My mother’s voice echoed back across the Atlantic. Right then and there I nearly break down crying, just hearing her voice.

“Hi Mommy.” I whispered, sniffling, once again feeling like a little kid. Sucking it up, I let out a large breath.

“Are you just going to keep greeting me or are you going to tell me how Paris is?” My mother said in her usual impatient tone. “Where are you?”

“I’m at a little café in from of the Eiffel Tower.” I laughed, missing her more than ever.

“How romantic.” She said sarcastically. “Is Klaus there?”

“Yeah.” I looked over at the hybrid in question, who was still on the phone. “We just went to the doctor.”

“How was it?” My mom had never been one to hide how she felt. I could detect some disapproval in her voice.

“A bit surprising actually.” I began awkwardly. “So you know how Klaus’s blood has special properties?”

“Umhmm…” She said. I could almost hear her foot tapping.

“So, every time he had to heal me… It sort of… sped up the baby’s development.” I said, bracing for an explosion.

“CAROLINE BEULA FORBES!” My mother shouted, raising her voice in the scolding manner she hadn’t used on me in a while. “I cannot believe you… Caroline, you just- I cannot- YOU’RE GROUNDED, YOUNG LADY!”

I laughed into the phone. Klaus of course was listening in now, done with his own call, with a smirk on his face.

“It is a little hard to ground your daughter thousands of miles away.” He said, only loud enough for the phone to pick it up. I scowled at him as that unleashes another round of my mother’s vicious temper.

“AND YOU!” She screeched, making me hold the phone at least a foot away from my ear.

“Me.” He said rather cynically. I could hear my mother’s temper inflating. She stammered looking for the correct words to scold the immortal, ancient hybrid, but finding none goes back to yelling at me.

After at the very least a two minute spiel, she calmed down.

“Just tell me, are you happy? Are you safe? Why did Klaus have to give you his blood?” My mom asked, tears in her voice. This was just her being scared. Having a cop for a parent, it was the definition of over protection.

“Tyler.” I whispered.

“What?!?” She yells.

“He…” I stammered, images flashing in my mind. No longer is his name associated with happiness, with love. Only with a desperate need to rip his heart out. “He tried to kill me… Twice.”

She swore into the phone, and I could hear her go crashing through the house. Her reaction is the cocking of a shot gun.

“I’m going to kill that son of a bitch if he ever shows his face with in a hundred miles of me _again._ ” She threatened. I laughed.

“That won’t kill him.” Klaus interjected. “But, I will.”

She let out an irritated sigh, and I heard the thump of the gun as she put it down.

“What were you telling me earlier?” She said. I could imagine the scene. The exasperated “what am I going to do with you Caroline?” scene. Her head in her hands, those little worry lines between her eyebrows crumpling together.

I took a second to remember, and then I glanced down at the black and white photograph on the table. My boy. My baby boy.

“I’m having a boy!” I squealed. And of course, Mom starts sniffling. Even I got a bit teary eyed. At this moment, I wanted nothing more to be on the couch next to her, smiling and crying along with her.

*Bound By Blood*

**Kol POV**

“For your first time…” I panted, falling off of Bonnie and into the sheet beside her. Both of us were sticky with sweat, her legs still stuck to mine. I look over at her, trying to catch her breath as well, her hair a right mess of my own doing. Smiling, her pearly whites gleam against the darkness of her skin. “You were pretty good.”

“Pretty good? And what authority does a man who hasn’t been laid in a century have? Particularly because you shot sparks.” She giggled, hitting me in the arm. Was that one of our “things?” Her abusing me, and me, finding it a strange, kinky turn on?

Blame my mother for trapping me at the age of perversion.

“So now I’m a pedophile?” I joked, snaking my arms around her waist to pull her into me. Softly, her lips meet mine, her arms going around my neck, pulling her closer to her even as I do the same.

“Well…” She said, putting her nose against mine and looking into my eyes. Hers sparkled, danced with shades of green, gold, and brown. “All my friends sleep with men significantly older than them… So I’m willing to give it a try.”

As I dive back in for a kiss, a timid knock resounds from the door.

“Kol?” My eldest brother, Finn called. The disgust in his voice was apparent, a constant reminder that unlike my mind, which was eternally stuck in the gutter, his was still somewhere in the 10th century.

“What?” I grumbled irritably, untangling myself from the grasp of _my_ little witch’s grasp and searched around the room for something to put on. I spied my boxers throw on the top shelf on of one of the bookcases as my stodgy, annoying sibling babbled something about Mother.

“Now how the hell did they get there?” I muttered to myself, then giving Bonnie a wink. I completely and utterly gave up retrieving them, instead quickly rushing into the closet to grab another identical pair of silk green ones and a plain dark grey tee shirt. On impulse, I grabbed one of my button downs for Bonnie.

Throwing it to her, I stomped to the door and pulled it open a hair; just enough for me to stick my face out and sass the mama’s boy.

“Tell Esther that if she wants to speak with me, then instead of sending her lapdog to retrieve me, she has to come to me herself,” I spat. Finn looked mildly offended his eyes going dark, but he didn’t argue, as I do raised my hand to threaten him away. He walked off, muttering darkly to himself.

I slammed the door with satisfaction, turning back to my… girlfriend? I didn’t like the sound of that. Lover? No, I had called many women that title.

Companion. Yes. Though I referenced a TV show Elijah and Nik had shown me when I had first emerged from my coffin, Doctor Why? Doctor Who?, I liked the sound of it. Not too sexual, as that wasn’t all of our relationship, and not too friendly. We were a partnership that had a thing on the side.

“Now where were we?” I asked seductively, sitting back down on the bed and drawing Bonnie into my arms.

“This.” She said, closing the gap.

But, before could get too into it, the door banged open.

“We need to talk.” Esther ordered, marching into _my_ room as though she owned it. Instantly, the mood changed, Bonnie tensed up under my arms, and my fangs began to itch, wanting to come out and play.

“Well then by all means, speak.” I said, my guard going up as I laid back on the pile of fluffy pillows. Bonnie did the same, only resting up hand on my arm.

Ester looked for a moment at the two of us, then continued.

“The spirits brought you back for one reason. To kill Silas.” She crossed her arms, mimicking me. “Are you going to put all these petty grudges behind you and get the job done?”

I started to retort, but Bonnie beat me to the punch.

“He’s not a child.” She said as imperious as a queen. A magical one that is. “Kol hasn’t been one for a long time even before he was turned. And that’s your fault.” Real hate filled Bonnie’s eyes, looking as though she was about to blast my mother on the spot.

“We can argue about how terrible of a mother I was later. Right now, there’s something I need you to see.” She strode back towards the doorway and leaned against it, waiting for us. I looked once at Bonnie, questioningly. She gave my mother the death glare, then turned back to me, nodding once.

I shooed my hand at Esther, scowling, and climbed out of bed as she left, an unpleasant expression on her face.

“Do I have to go?” Bonnie whined, pulling up the sheets to her chest. I sped over to her with a grin, ripping the sheet off of her naked body. She squealed, diving back down for them, but I scooped her up, planting a kiss on her lips.

Finn banged on the door.

“Mother says stop having sex and get your asses down there!” He yelled. Bonnie and I laughed.

*Bound By Blood*

“So glad you could finally join us.” Esther said acidly, as Bonnie and I traipsed down the stairs. She lounged on one of the couches, observing a computer screen. Finn stiffly sat in an armchair with the red headed girl on his arm. I could see Elijah and his doppelganger in the kitchen, softly talking. In the next room, Damon and his teacher-hunter friend were drinking the whole bar. The other doppelganger was with them, talking to her moping brother. My sister and her current Salvatoy were nowhere to be found.

“What was so damn urgent, _Esther_?” Bonnie snapped, her stilettos clinking angrily into the floor.

“You would be wise to show a little respect little Bennett.” My mother spat, shutting the computer.

“And you would be wise to stay far away from me.” Bonnie sassed back. I smirked as Elijah poked his head out of the kitchen, his bitch fight sense tingling.

Ester laughed, reaching to the spot beside her and pulling out a map. It was covered in colored dots and x’s, making it look like Mom had been playing Risk on all of North America.

“What the hell is that?” I asked, as she spread it out on the coffee table.

“Most scenic murder locations in the United States?” Damon drawled, walking into the room with a bottle of bourbon. I snatched it from him, taking a swig of my own. My mother glared at him, fire burning in her eyes.

“No.” She snapped. “These,” Ester points to x’s, “are murder locations” The others’ heads immediately poked out of their prospective rooms at the sound of ‘murder.’

The Mystic Falls Gang’s favorite word.

“Of witches.” She continued her eyes hard. Bonnie and I looked at each other, in silent tandem thinking “oh shit.”

“And what are these?” Elijah asked, sidling up behind us, leaning over the couch.

She took a deep breath, looking at each of us in turn. She was nervous.

“Sightings.” She said, taking another one of those deep breathes that scared the hell out of me.

“Of what?” I snapped impatiently.

“Of… Your father.” She breathed.

Fuck.

*Bound By Blood*

**Caroline POV**

The house was surprisingly quiet when Klaus and I walked up the steps. No broken glass, no viable sounds of fighting.

Either everyone was already dead, or they had all fled for the day.

“Are they dead?” Klaus muttered, shoving his key into the lock and twisting it. I laughed, letting him hold the door for me and I stepped through.

Silence.

Dead silence.

Klaus stepped inside as well, and listened. I too can hear the faint, slow beating of vampiric hearts, the normal beat of three human-ish ones, and the faint creak of wood.

Wordlessly, we traipsed up the stairs, still smiling, our hands intertwined.

The door creaked open as I pushed.

Everyone, and I mean everyone, was sitting around the table silently, in varying states of worry.

Kol’s head was in his hands, Bonnie rubbing his back calmingly.

Elijah paced the room while Katherine tugged on her curls one at a time.

Damon and Alaric were steadily drinking, Damon wearing his “once I am drunk, this shit will no longer matter” drinking face.

Elena had her head buried in Jeremy’s shoulder.

Esther wasn’t there.

“What the hell is going here?” Klaus asked, walking into the worry circle.

Kol took his head out of his hands. His eyes… Their hazel was etched with an eternal fear.

“Your father.” Esther said, appearing at the top of the second flight of stairs. She looked just as worried as the rest of them. Klaus did a double take, staring in disbelief at her.

“What about the dick?” He spits. Esther walked over to a map on the coffee table, where North America is all voo-dooed up with x’s and o’s.

“He’s back.” She stated. Klaus’s muscles immediately tensed, his eyes widened. In a snap, he rushed at her, pinning Esther against the opposite wall with a smash.

“What did you do?” He snarled, his fangs snapped into action and his eyes went gold. She cried out.

“Nothing!” She gasped.

“Stop. Lying.” He growled, pushing her further into the wall.

“I. Didn’t. Do. Anything.” She said, enunciating each word like a sharp blade.

“You’ve lied to me all my life. Why. Tell. The. Truth. Now?” Klaus is now bordering on insane, his voice deadly quiet, and his pushed all his strength in his mother. Her eyes narrow in concentration and Klaus cried out in pain, releasing her under the pain of an aneurysm.

“Listen for once in your life Niklaus!” She hissed, standing over him. He looked at her no less feral than before.

“I did want to resurrect your father.” Kol rolled his eyes and mouthed “duh!” to Klaus. “But, it was only to keep him controlled. Your father has the propensity and the potential to turn dark and homicidal in a snap. I couldn’t let him fall under the influence of Silas.”

Kol, of course, in his ever cynical mood, cut in.

“Well you failed.” He said, lightly, springing up and stalking over to where his mother stood over Klaus. “So how do you want to remedy your failure… again?” Kol pulled Klaus to his feet, and both of the brothers cross their arms, staring down Esther.

“Kill Silas.” She simply said. Klaus laughed.

“And we immortals are sooo easy to kill.” He said, his accent coming thicker.

“You do have the Cure?” Esther asked, directed at Elijah and Katherine.

“Yes.” Elijah started.

“But, there’s no way in hell I’m giving it to you here and now mummy dearest.” Katherine pouted sassily.

Esther gives her a steely look, but Katherine is just as hard in her resolve. Semi-giving up, Esther looked back at her boys, more specifically, Klaus.

“You can’t be anything but a monster can you Niklaus.” She taunted. “I wonder if your child is going to turn out the exact. Same. Way.” Esther was almost singing, the sound of her voice causing Klaus to go tenser and tenser by the second. The moment she got close to him, finishing her sentence, he lashed out, his supernatural strength coming out to play as he threw her across the room. A glass cabinet shattered as her body landed into it.

Klaus brushed off his jacket, in the same manner he had before he really knew any of us. He was totally psychotically in control.

Bending over, he looked at his mother coldly.

“You don’t talk about my son. Ever.” He said and I couldn’t help but grin. He actually cared in that weird sadistic way of his.

No one in the room made a move, not even Klaus who just stood there, alternating for staring at his mother and out the window, Gatsby-ing I called it. I, however, noticed the glass and the blood and. Ugh.

My OCD kicked in as I immediately looked around for a broom or something. Finding none, I instead walked over to Klaus, the perfect plan in mind.

“Klaus.” I began, drawing out his name. His head shot up, his blue eyes dancing with satisfaction. “Where’s the bleach?”

“Pardon?” Elijah asked, snapping out of his reverie.

“Bleach. You know the stuff that gets blood out of carpet?” I said, looking at each of the older vampires. All of them look downright baffled.

I exhale frustrated, and shared an eye roll with Elena and Bonnie.

“Well then… You have to find it. It’s y’all’s mess, so clean it up.” I snapped. Klaus rolled his eyes.

“Do I have to?” He whined. I just started for the stairs, completely and utterly done with this. About halfway up the metal steps, I turned around. Of course, everyone is staring at me.

“How do you feel about the couch?” I sassed, continuing the rest of the way up.

Klaus makes one of those frustrated groans as Damon coughs “whipped.”

When I’m finally alone, in our bedroom, I slipped off my shoes and collapsed on the bed. Unbuttoning my top, I finally am able to relax. I headed into my closet, taking my bag with me. Digging around in it, I find my stack of photos and laid them on the marble countertop. One by one, I looked through them, smiling serenely at each.

My baby boy.

He looked so tiny, so perfect. So helpless. I pressed my hand to my stomach to feel him beat his feet against the skin. Gasping, I realized how strong he is.

I gently put one of the clearer pictures in the corner of the vanity mirror, in between the photo of Klaus, Bonnie, Kol, and I in Miami, and the one of my mom and I, on my first day of High School.

Again, he kicked. It was a fluttering feeling. Pensively, I sat there, letting my son do gymnastics in my belly.

I only then realized that in a couple of months, I would be holding him in my arms.

**Review loves!**

 


	29. Bleeding Rome

Bound By Blood

**Chapter XXIX: Bleeding Rome**

**_17 weeks left_ **

_There is a wolf in me . . . fangs pointed for tearing gashes . . . a red tongue for raw meat . . . and the hot lapping of blood—I keep this wolf because the wilderness gave it to me and the wilderness will not let it go._

_There is a fox in me . . . a silver-gray fox . . . I sniff and guess . . . I pick things out of the wind and air . . . I nose in the dark night and take sleepers and eat them and hide the feathers . . . I circle and loop and double-cross._

_There is a hog in me . . . a snout and a belly . . . a machinery for eating and grunting . . . a machinery for sleeping satisfied in the sun—I got this too from the wilderness and the wilderness will not let it go._

_There is a fish in me . . . I know I came from salt-blue water-gates . . . I scurried with shoals of herring . . . I blew waterspouts with porpoises . . . before land was . . . before the water went down . . . before Noah . . . before the first chapter of Genesis._

_There is a baboon in me . . . clambering-clawed . . . dog-faced . . . yawping a galoot’s hunger . . . hairy under the armpits . . . here are the hawk-eyed hankering men . . . here are the blonde and blue-eyed women . . . here they hide curled asleep waiting . . . ready to snarl and kill . . . ready to sing and give milk . . . waiting—I keep the baboon because the wilderness says so._

_There is an eagle in me and a mockingbird . . . and the eagle flies among the Rocky Mountains of my dreams and fights among the Sierra crags of what I want . . . and the mockingbird warbles in the early forenoon before the dew is gone, warbles in the underbrush of my Chattanoogas of hope, gushes over the blue Ozark foothills of my wishes—And I got the eagle and the mockingbird from the wilderness._

_O, I got a zoo, I got a menagerie, inside my ribs, under my bony head, under my red-valve heart—and I got something else: it is a man-child heart, a woman-child heart: it is a father and mother and lover: it came from God-Knows-Where: it is going to God-Knows-Where—For I am the keeper of the zoo: I say yes and no: I sing and kill and work: I am a pal of the world: I came from the wilderness._

_-Carl Sandburg, Wilderness_

**Caroline POV**

Rest was boring.

The entire week, I just stayed cooped up in the house, visited by the few people in the house I counted among my friends.

Rebekah and I must have gone through hundreds of catalogues and websites, looking at furniture and clothes, and basically everything.

It was sort of ridiculous given we didn’t even know where we would be living when I had the baby, but Rebekah is… Rebekah. And she throws her heart and soul into every little thing.

Klaus had visited me too, sometimes taking me downstairs to ‘help’ with tracking Mikael. Apparently, only a small percentage of us could actually _use_ a computer.

According to Klaus’s ‘agents’ across the United States and security cameras, Mikael had only been active since around twelve hours after Kol and Bonnie had resurrected the rest of our group, starting in Baton Rouge.

And the killings only increased from there.

Mikael kept popping up around the States, traveling steadily towards Mystic Falls, leaving a trail of blood in his wake.

Ester had said that Silas had already told him about everything, in his own twisted light, probably making Mikael set on one path, to kill his family.

Well, it was my family too, now. And there is no way in hell he was coming near us.

At night, Klaus would lie with me and look through those insanely long baby name books, his hand draped over my stomach, and the other arm around my shoulders. It made me feel safe, like I had a family.

During the day I wasn’t sure what he did, sometimes he would spend hours at a time holed up in that art studio of his, the one across the corner of the house with the best view of the Eiffel Tower. Other times, he would just be… gone.

I had called my mom, when Mikael was getting close to Mystic Falls, just ordering her to leave. Though she had put up an elegant fight, eventually, she went to go stay with her parents, my grandparents.

It made me sad, that I could never see them again. I would stay this age forever, eventually leading to me completely leaving the family I had once known.

Tyler completely fell off the radar, somehow completely and utterly vanished from the earth.

As soon as Bonnie cleared me to travel, this morning in fact, everyone was packing. Silas was most certainly on our trail and most likely Mikael as well. Packing for God knows where.

Ester, Bonnie, and Kol spent nearly all week together, either working on Mikael’s location or in his room, doing God knows what, for better or for worse. This forced alliance had resulted in 4 explosions, 3 shouting matches, 2 physical smack downs, and 1 accidental, though temporary, and murder of 1 Original Witch.

At least fruit was born from the forced partnership. A spell, well according to Bonnie more of a proliferation of their wills, to take away Silas’s magic, paired with the Cure, could kill him, _without_ completely dropping the veil.

The last thing anyone wanted was more enemies crossing over.

Of course, no magic could go off without a hitch. Katherine, the scavenger, had also taken the tombstone that had passed through so many of our hands. Professor Shane had had no idea how valuable the rock truly was. Though it was Silas’s tombstone, the witch who had loved, and chained, him had left her blood there, to bind him.

At least the doppel-bitch had good taste in hiding places. She was certainly helping Klaus complete his list of places to take me.

Rome here we come, for better or for worse.

Those circumstances brought me here, staring out the window and listening to Bonnie yell at me.

“Caroline we have to go!” Bonnie yelled through the door for the billionth time, banging on the door. I ignored her, saying nothing, just staring out the window, getting one last good look at Paris. I heard her exasperatedly sigh and stomp away.

I sat on one of my trunks, sipping on a cup of some vile tea that Ester had forced on me. Though I had been suspicious at first, Bonnie had cleared it.

The house cleared out, one by one the occupants left, slamming car doors, and yelling to each other. Soon the house was quiet, with only the faint scuffing footsteps coming up the stairs and towards my room to fill the empty silence.

“Caroline?” Klaus asked, his accent thick. The door creaked open and his heavy feet clunked towards me. His hand delicately placed on my shoulder, I looked up at him. “Time to go, love.”

I shook my head, turning back to the window. I just didn’t have a good feeling about this.

“You’ll love Rome, I promise.” He said, offering me his hand.

“It’s… It’s… Not that I don’t think that I’ll hate Rome. I just feel…” I stated carefully, taking his hand and steadily coming to my feet despite the ever growing girth.

“What?” He asked.

“I feel like Rome is a mistake.” I spat out. He looked at me confused, and then squeezed my hand. I looked down at the intertwined pair. His other hand went under my chin, making me look up at him.

“Hey. I promised one thing. To you, to your mother, to myself. I will _always_ protect you.” I smiled at him, still not fully believing everything was going to be “alright”, but feeling a little bit safer knowing I had some attack dog—no wolf looking out for me.

“Come on.” He said, grabbing the trunk like it’s a feather and walking out the door. I snatch my purse from the bed and follow him.

The car parked outside is a plain black Lincoln town car, with an elderly driver who couldn’t hear and asked us seven or eight times how long we had been married, on the way to the airport. At the same landing strip which we had arrived on, the now familiar private stood, erect against the noon-day sun. As Klaus thanked the driver, handing him a wad of Euros, Damon poked his head out of the door.

“We’ve been waiting for an hour for you Blondie. Having some fun with your _husband_?” He yelled, taking one sip out of a bottle of beer. I glare at him as I stalked up the stairs.

“He’s not my husband.” I spat, stalking past him. Klaus followed me and almost in sync with Damon both of them saying “yet.” I whirled back around, glaring at both of them, before heading the rest of the way down the aisle. I pulled out a couple of parenting magazines as Klaus sat down next to me in the light tan leather seat.

The flight was only two hours, most of which was spent in silence. Klaus drew. I read. The only thing that broke the tension was the occasional passing of people getting up to refill their alcohol.

The entire time, Jeremy just sat there, glaring at Kol and Bonnie, who were busying themselves with that ancient book they had recovered. Kol tapped a pencil on the table and they read the pages together, both bent over in concentration. Occasionally, his signature colored sparks came out of the fingers around the pencil.

I still couldn’t shake the ominous feeling about Rome as we touched down in the historic city. It was supposed to be just like Paris all over again, Klaus dealing with customs just on the tarmac and then us driving off. Sadly, we got a little more of Rome than expected.

“Niklaus Mikaelson.” More than a dozen men stood on the pavement in a purely defensive gesture. The man that addressed Klaus spoke with a thick Italian accent and carried himself with the same aura I had felt around Klaus, around Mason, around Tyler.

“Giuseppe de Lupo.” Klaus drawled, his eyes flashing dangerously as he walked down the stairs, his loafers making a clang against the metal as he went. “I don’t remember asking for a welcome party.”

The man mimics Klaus in his defensive posture, crossing his arms over his chest. The parallel each other, Klaus dressed in a fine Italian suit and the alpha in a rough leather jacket and jeans.

“I don’t remember allowing you to intrude in _our_ territory.” He snarled. From my spot at the door, I peeked at the exchange, while listening to the others rushing to do something. Kol and Bonnie flipped through the pages of a grimorie, while Damon and Stefan tried frantically to open the emergency exit.

Esther was the only one not frantic in this situation. She just looked out the window, her pointer fingers pressed to her lips.

“Are you so quick to forget our agreement Praetor? Once a year.” Klaus leaned against the railing. Inside Kol started chanting as his brothers tore down bags from the overhead compartments, ripping them open and pulling out a variety of guns, knives, and even a sword or two. Damon took one look at the arsenal and gave the Mikaelson siblings a grin, taking one of the guns and sliding it into his vintage leather jacket. He pushed me out of the way of the door and walked down the steps.

“Who’s that?” Giuseppe said suspiciously.

“Un amico. Che diavolo sta succedendo?” Damon said, surprising us all with his Italian. Stefan rolled his eyes, muttering “show off.”

“Un cambio di programma.” The man responded, his eyes showing a bit more leniency now speaking in his native language.

“Perché?” Klaus replied, him too in perfect Italian.

“Un conoscente di tuo ci ha fatto visita. Le vostre azioni hanno fatto non è più il benvenuto qui, mostruosità.“  He growled.  Motioning to his army, they turned and left the leader still in his authoritarian position.

Damon rolled his eyes, mouthing “I told you so” at Klaus.

“Lascia ibrida. Mai tornare a Roma.” Giuseppe turned and somehow he was gone too.

Klaus immediately started swearing as a car pulled up to the runway.

“Would you like to explain? Who in the hell were those guys?” Damon asked angrily. Klaus ignored him angrily kicking the rocks on the pavement.

I stomped down the stairs and straight up to Klaus, who has his back to us. I put my hand on his shoulder and pull him around.

“Hey. What the fuck? Answer the question.” I demand from him. He rolled his eyes.

“That’s Praetor Giuseppe de Lupo, the leader of the werewolf clans of Rome.”

“And what exactly did you do to piss him off?” I tossed my hair, crossing my arms just above my baby bump.

“ _Someone_ told him about the hybrids.” He said. I glared at him, repeating Damon’s words.

“So what now?” Kol asked, climbing down the stairs. Bonnie followed him. “We need that tombstone and now your little fucked up project has ruined that.”

Klaus opened the black door of the car and with a grandiose bow swept his arm in the “after you” princely gesture.

“You’re not serious. Last time we were in Rome, how many werewolf packs were there?” Rebekah reasoned, nearly smacking Klaus on the side of the head as she got in the car.

“12, if memory serves. A whole legion, been here since the days when Rome was young.” Elijah replied, sliding into the car next along with Katherine.

“And you’re still going to disobey their warning.” I lectured, putting my hand in his face. How could he be so stupid?

“I don’t obey. They should obey me.” He snarled sliding into the car. I rolled my eyes towards the deep blue Italian sky and slid into the car. I guess we were heading straight into the wolves’ path.

*Bound By Blood*

“At least we are outside Rome.” I quietly remarked as the car pulled up to a pair of imposing black metal gates, breaking the monotony of a pale, roughly cut stone wall that seemed to stretch on for ages. A pair of elegantly carved wolves guarded the tops of the gates.

The drive was especially long, a winding road through well-manicured, though somehow still wild grounds. Romanesque statues dotted the groves. In the distance, I spied a long reflecting pool hidden behind some topiary.

And the house. All I could murmur was “wow” at the impressive structure. Compared to this, the Mystic Falls home was a hovel. Turrets soared, walls expanded for ages, elaborate carvings of beast, both mythical and real, decorated the stone interludes.

“You all can stop staring. Gothic architecture _is_ impressive, we have work to do.” Klaus said, clearly showing off.

He exited the car, offering his hand to me and helping me out of the car. Unsteadily, I rose to me feet on the tan gravel and mount the steps, still escorted. Before Klaus opened the door he reached down to place his hand in the mouth of the silvery wolf guarding the left hand side of the massive oak door. A slight clink came from it.

“What was that?” I asked.

“A disarmament. For the traps.” He answered with an evil smirk. I rolled my eyes.

“When did you install those?” Elijah asked, as the rest of our group slowly came up the steps. Klaus threw open the door with a flourish.

The room was no less grand than the home. Antiques from every period and painting from every age adorned the front room. A bejeweled chandelier hung from the ceiling, which looked like the Sistine Chapel.

“After you tried to loot the place. With Katarina.” Klaus answered bitterly. Katherine laughed harshly.

“Didn’t get more than some Medieval art and a few da Vinci sketches.” Elijah said, blowing off the priceless works. “Surely you didn’t miss those?”

Klaus glared at him, pouring himself a glass of bourbon from a decanter that looked about as old as the Originals themselves.

“I did. Now don’t you have an errand to run?” He said, not really phrasing the question as a question, but as a highly suggestive order. Elijah glared at Klaus, and then motioned to Katherine, walking deeper into the house.

“Wait.” Kol yelled after him, taking Bonnie’s hand and pulling her in the same direction that Elijah and Katherine went. “We’re coming too.”

I heard Elijah breathily sigh, annoyed, as Kol caught up to him. Their footsteps echoed through the house.

“Why exactly do you want to come?” He asked, exasperated as they delved deeper into the house, their voices still resounding off of the remarkable high ceiling.

“Authenticity.” Kol says, as another door creaked opens. “Only a witch or warlock can tell you if it’s real and I trust your little doppelganger about as far as I can throw her.”

I could hear Elijah and Katherine’s eye roll as they slammed the door.

The moment they left, Klaus pulled me along. We walked over to a large Middle Aged tapestry and pulled it aside to reveal a stone staircase. Leading me up it, I noticed the various switchbacks, the crumbling mortar, the moldy tapestries, alluding to the age of this passage. As we neared the top, a hole is cut in the walls, like a door. Beyond laid another set of stairs, smaller and steeper, twisting and twirling up and up. I craned my neck to look inside, but Klaus took my hand tugging me along.

“Our bedroom.” Klaus said dismissively. “Keep going.” Curiously, I kept climbing eventually coming to a trap door. Tentatively, I regarded it. Klaus pushed past me, pressing against the slightly rotting wood. Sunlight flooded the passageway.

The roof has a stucco platform, covered in greenery. Vines stretch the walls, with exotic blushing flowers blooming at every turn. A pair of wicker chairs with white cushions looked out over the grounds, and beyond into the spring green hills.

“This is…” I was at a total loss for words. Carefully, I sat in the right hand chair still stunned.

“Amazing, priceless, beautiful? All words I’ve heard to describe Rome…” Klaus said cockily, reaching over to a metal stand full of ice to pull out a bottle of wine and a bottle of sparkling water. A table sat between us with two glasses. As he poured the water for me, sitting down next to me in the chair, he looked at me mischievously. “They also describe you, love.”

“You know for an evil villain who pisses off just about anybody and everybody, you’re a hopeless romantic.” I giggled. His face turned serious.

“Protecting myself. Now how is that my fault?” He sipped the wine and grinned.

“You can’t stay away from trouble. It’s always your fault.”

“So,” He came closer snaking his arms around my waist and up to wrap around my torso. “you,” He began to plant kisses down my neck, I gasped. “Don’t, Like,” He nips at my skin. “This?”

I laughed, for the first time in a long time. My voice rang through the hills.

“Klaus! Stop it.” I giggled, pushing him off of me. His lips poked out in a childish pout, his eyes shining in the same puppy dog look that made me smile. A flutter came from my stomach.

He backed off, though his arms stay encasing me. Wordlessly, I took his hand pressing it to my abdomen. The baby kicked harder, causing me to slightly gasp as if he knew.

“Ouch.” I gasped, as again he kicked spiritedly. “You’re pretty strong.”

“Of course.” Klaus says nonchalantly, moving his hands to match the baby’s carefully placed kicks. “He’s an alpha male.”

I rolled my eyes. Was my son going to be the exact same way?

Probably—no surely.

“Do you worry he’s going to rise up and be stronger than you?”

Klaus gives me an incredulous look, taking another sip of wine.

“Wolves pay deference to their elders.” He stated. We sat there listening to the natural silence of the Roman hills. Klaus kept his hand to my stomach and I knited my hand in his curls.

And the birdsong and the wind are broken by the wailing of AC/DC.

 _I’m on the highway to hell!_ The music had to be coming from Klaus’s pocket, as he fumbles through the Armani suit jacket.

“What Kol?” He snarled, stabbing the phone. From the other end I heard sounds of breaking glass, the sickening connection of fist to cheek, and the yells of both men and women.

“Brother!” He said, the playful cynicism in his voice offsetting the fighting sounds surrounding him. “We sort of have a situation.”

Klaus rolled his eyes, getting up and leaning against the stucco wall that was low enough to serve as a railing.

“I can tell.” He responded drily. “What would you like me to do about it?”

Kol laughed gallantly and a splatter echoed through the other line.

“Get us a boat.” Kol ordered.

“Why?” Klaus spat. “And to where?”

I could hear Elijah yelling in the background and a car down slammed. An engine reeved.

“Greece.” Kol shouted through the phone. “No Elijah, just ram them!” He ordered. I shuddered to think of the scene. “We need to talk to Quetsiah.”

*Bound By Blood*

**Kol POV**

The Banca d’Italia reminded me of a palace I had once known in Bohemia. Vaulted ceilings with a glass top, covered in marble,and  people scurrying about silently.

The doppelganger walked with purpose towards the desk in the front of the room, her dark brown stilettos clinking against the floor. My puppy of a brother followed her, a dreamy look in his eyes, coldly regarding each of the passing human, who were quick to move from our wake.

Bonnie walked a bit slower than the rest of us, her steps a little bit quieter, hinted at her unease in the room. Reassuringly, I gave her a smirk and motioned to the pair, rolling my eyes. She giggled.

Katherine walked up to the young man at the desk. He didn’t look up, still focused on his laptop. She began tapping her foot, to the same beat as the boy’s heart. Slowly he looked up, peering over his glasses.

“Ho un appuntamento con il signor di Angelo” She said, in flawless Italian. I only had a basic understanding of this new-fangled version of the language, but still could translate. Apparently, the doppelganger had called ahead getting an appointment with a Mr. di Angelo.

“Nome?” He asked.

“Katarina Petrova.” She said. I’m surprised. Using her real name was a tad dangerous, though the man typed something into his computer. With a nod of his head, he stood up.

“Da questa parte.” He said, motioning for us to follow him. Leading us up a staircase and opening a door, he left us in an ante-chamber where a trim young secretary was typing on a computer. She gave us one look, and then motioned for us to enter the grand set of double doors.

“Signorina Petrova” An old man greeted us standing up from behind a gold trimmed desk. Benignly he hugged her, which she greeted with a mask of sweetness. They chatted in Italian, with those wide gestures towards us. Even I couldn’t follow the conversation. Bonnie looked up at me confused.

“Ummmm Katarina.” Elijah broke in. “We sort of need to hurry.”

She glared at him, instead sitting in a chair across from the desk, switching to English.

“Do you have my box?” She asked.

“Of course, Signorina, of course.” He said in excellent, though slightly accented English. Reaching into a drawer on the left of his desk, he pulled out a stainless steel 1 foot squared box. From a chain around her neck, Katherine took a silver key as my brother took the box from the banker. He then handed her the box. She opened it, checking the contents.

The stone was nothing special, a jagged hunk of rock. The doppelganger tossed it to me and I caught it, turning it over in my hands. The instant I touched it, I knew it was real. Bonnie, who sat next to me, reached out her small delicate hand to touch the headstone. A spark came to her eyes the moment contact was made.

In a whisper, that only I could hear, she said, “Greece.”

I nodded to Katherine as Bonnie slipped her ancestral right into the leather bag she brought.

“Thank you.” Katherine said business like, getting up. Elijah mimicked her. As they turned to go, I saw a slight movement from the old man. I turn back around. He’s sweating and… stabbing? Something under his desk.

“Wait!” He yelled. Katherine, Elijah, and Bonnie whirled around. As he scrambled for words, my suspicion multiplied tenfold.

“Come let’s go.” I muttered, sensing a trap. I took Bonnie’s hand and started to hustle her out of the room.

Once outside, I whirled her around.

“Greece? Why Greece?” I demanded.

“Because it’s a link.” She argued, starting down the second set of stairs. I grabbed her arm, pulling her back up.

“Excuse me? A little explanation is in order sweetheart.” Elijah and Katherine hurry down the stairs behind us.

“Listen, the moment I touched that rock, I just… I just knew ok? I just knew that we need to go there.”

“And is this mysterious feeling giving any hints what awaits us there?”

Her eyes brightened again.

“A way.”

“A way to what?”

“To talk to Quetsiah.”

Before the fact that we would be communicating with one of the most powerful witches in history could sink in, Elijah grabbed my arm.

“Brother, we need to go. Now.”

I nodded my head, pulling Bonnie along after me, we finally descended the stairs and without a thought I opened the door.

A stake against my chest greeted me.

“We warned you… vampiro.”

I grinned, looking back at my brother to share a look. Elijah was not amused.

“Warned me about what?” I said, pushing a bit into the door. The man with the stake moved with me keeping it pressed to my heart.

“Praetor gave you a chance to run. You didn’t. Now you pay the price.”

The werewolf came at me, driving the stake into my heart. Though it stung, surprising to the mass of furry troops positioned in the entry way, I didn’t burn up in a fiery inferno. He looked at me astonished as I slowly pulled the wood out of my chest and threw it to the floor.

With my hearing, I heard my brother silently arguing with Katherine and then the clink of him taking something from a bowl. Mints, by the scent. The hall was silent as he followed me out into the room, his perfectly polished designer shoes making ominous steps.

“Now.” He said, stopping and standing beside me. “Was that polite?”

In a second, he let the mints fly from his hand, deadly pistols. Perfectly placed, one by one, the dozen hit their targets’ heads.

The leader, a tall brutal looking man with a scar taking up half his face twirled his stake, fear evident in his eyes as the scar rippled.

“Who are you?” He growled.

“My name is Elijah. Perhaps you’ve heard of me?” Clearly the name struck a chord with the alpha, making him take a hasty step back.

“Then you know.” He said, picking up one of the dead body’s stakes. “I don’t like being ordered around.”

Elijah whipped the stake at the alpha though he managed to dodge. Instead it hit a drone. However, the control the alpha had on the attack is lost. A few start moving towards us and then…

And then it all went to hell.

I was in auto pilot. Punch abdomen, kick crotch, rip throat. Elijah had a bit more calm, refinement in his fighting, walking calmly through the attacking mob and just casually ripping their hearts out one at a time. In the ante-chamber, I heard Bonnie chanting. I see a flash of brunette curls as Katherine tried to make a break for the door, being ever so self-preserving, but she’s blocked by a hulking giant of a wolf. After a moment of thought, she stabbed him with her stiletto.

Bonnie’s chanting grew louder, making the glass shake precariously. I glanced up at the ceiling worriedly. I recognized the spell. And it wasn’t good.

As the first pieces of glass began to fall, I vampire sped away back into the ante-chamber with Bonnie. She held herself next to the window, blood flowing from her nose, as scarlet as the blood staining my hands and clothes, still chanting. Elijah and Katherine barely made it into the room before the ceiling fell on the pack.

Tentatively, we reemerged from the room. They all were dead. All except one.  Their alpha, the leader, wasn’t fully gone yet, still coughing up blood. A huge piece of the roof was embedded in his chest. Lightly, I stepped over him, pulling out my cell phone. Elijah didn’t step over him, rather crushing the dead man’s fingers. His girlfriend seemed to be using her heels as weapons.

I tap the contact labeled “Nik” and a highly unattractive photo of my brother drop dead drunk appeared on the screen as the phone rang. I brought it to my ear and threw open the bank’s door.

Of course, they had brought back up.

Keeping the phone pressed to my ear, I dodged pieces of broken glass hurled like projectiles at my head, forcing my hand into a woman’s throat, and taking the vital organ with me as I briskly walked down the steps. The wolves attacked with shrieks, easily silenced by my brother’s smooth hand. Oddly enough, some carried weapons: Roman flat swords, medieval maces, even guns. Easily, I procured a mace from one of the dead oned. Once, when I was human, it had been my weapon of choice. Besides, magic of course.

In a calculated move, I swung the mace against a man’s skull. A pleasant crack filled the air and I swung again, this time adding a little bit of magical “juice” to the weapon. Electrocution by magic was fascinating. Surprisingly, I started to laugh as I fought. Bonnie stared at me as though I was insane, though she cast spell after spell, drawing them back.

Finally, Klaus answered his phone. I grinned, thinking of what I had probably just interrupted given his tone.

“What Kol?” My brother _pleasantly_ greeted me. 

 “Brother!” I said jovially, smashing the hammer against another poor bastard’s skull. “We sort of have a situation.”

 “I can tell.” He responded drily. “What would you like me to do about it?”

I laughed as I decided to change my style up a bit, using the bit of magic in the mace to sever a man’s arm. Spatters of blood hit everything on me, my phone, my clothes, and my face. Gross.

“Get us a boat.” I ordered. Bonne gave me a look, grabbing my hand pulling me through the path Elijah and Katherine had created to our car, a cherry red Ferrari that Nik had loaned us.

“Why?” Klaus spat. “And to where?”

Elijah yelled at me to come on as I slammed aside another wolf to get to the car door. I pushed Bonnie inside, quite rudely, and then slid her over slamming the door. My brother pumped the gas pedal.

“Greece.” I shouted into the phone over the reeving of the engine. I leaned over the black leather seat to see why we weren’t moving. Three men stood in the street, in fighting stance. And my pussy of a brother was politely waiting for them to move out of the way.

“No Elijah, just ram them!” I ordered.

I turned my attention back to the ever impatient Klaus. “We need to talk to Quetsiah.” I told him then hung up. Elijah smoothly drove the Ferrari over the three men, the sound of their bones crunching under the black tires no more than a memory in the dust as we drove away.

*Bound By Blood*

**Klaus POV**

The group from the bank came through the door bloody, though Kol was a bit too joyous for my taste.

Caroline had fallen asleep on the roof, so I left her there as the slightly battered Ferrari pulled into the drive. I rushed down the stairs to confront them.

“What the hell did you do to my car?” I asked, as they enter the foyer. Everyone is covered in blood.

“Just had a bit of fun Nik.” Kol said in high spirits, rushing up the stairs pulling the witch’s hand. “Did you get our boat?”

I sighed, looking exhaustedly at him. Tiresomely, I followed him.

“The Hades will be ready to depart tomorrow. From a small port about 2 hours away from here.” Kol gave me a look.

“Seriously, Nik? The Hades? Can you be original? Where are we staying in Greece anyways?”

“The home on Santorini. How exactly do you plan on talking to a two thousand year old dead witch?”

“There are a couple of locations we can try. All those old temples, they have a strong magical presence.” Kol started, but Bonnie cut in.

“They work as magical cell phone towers boosting the signal. Where’s Caroline?” She looked around, as though we are attached at the hip.

“On the roof.” I shouted behind me, keeping tramping up the stairs. By the scuffing sounds, I assumed they followed me.

Caroline’s hair glinted in the late afternoon sun, the white of her dress making her look like a goddess. Her body curved against my absent form, her hands under her head.  Her eyelashes fluttered as I stepped towards her.

“Klaus?” She yawned, her arms reaching over her head and then pulling herself up to a sitting position, fixing her clothes and smoothing her hair as she noticed Bonnie and Kol. He makes a beeline for the bar. “How long was I asleep?”

“Two, maybe three hours. You are quite clingy.” I teased, draining the rest of my wine glass and refilling it with the remnants of the bottle. Kol glared at me, and then rolled his eyes, beginning to search for another one.

“Am not!” She shrieked, regarding the state of my brother and her friend. “And why are both of you soaked in blood?”

“Three of those werewolf packs ambushed us at the bank.” Kol answered. I was stunned.

“There’s a war coming.” I stated. Everyone looked at me, alarmed, so I elaborated. “Usually those packs would rather tear each other’s throats out than work together. If the packs of Rome were working together, united, for the first time since World War Two, then there is a war coming. A war against us and the entire vampire race.”

“So what do you want to do? Make a break for it? We destroyed at least a full pack and a good portion of the other two.”

I glared at him. What? Did he think that taking out that little of the legion would do us any good?

“I’m going to call some of our old friends, Medici in Florence, Sforza in Milan, Contarini in Venice. They have formidable nests.” I said, pulling out my phone. Every time we blew through a major city, I had found it handy to turn a noble. They would then create their own vampire courts, similar to Marcel’s in New Orleans. Handy, loyal, and most of all, fighters. “Go tell the others. Tell them to call every vampire they know. I don’t care where they are, who they are, or how old they are. This won’t be a contained incident.  And for god’s sake take a bath”

I stormed down the stairs with my phone in my hand, with Caroline following me. I turned, walking up the stairs that lead to the bedroom in the tower. Somehow our luggage had already been transported up the stone steps as I walked into the familiar bedroom. Tapestries hung from the walls and a large scene by Raphael hung above the canopied bed. As Caroline collapsed on the bed, I walk through the room and into the alcove that doubled as an office and an art studio. Tapping the first contact, I sighed. Tonight was going to be a long night.

*Bound By Blood*

**Caroline POV**

It was odd. I was tired all the time, though I had just stayed in bed for a whole week. Klaus was up all night, chattering in a hundred different dialects, that I couldn’t understand. I floated in and out of sleep, only waking when the baby kicked too hard. Yet, at around three o’clock, I just got up.

Klaus was yelling at someone in Japanese, I think, two empty bottles of bourbon sitting on the African Blackwood desk and a third in his hands. I walked up behind him, and wrapped my arms around him, rocking back and forth as I waited for him to get off the damn phone. When he does, after a large crescendo of shouts, he looked at me, mildly annoyed.

“Yes?” He said, raising one eyebrow.

“Do we have ice cream?” I asked. “Oh and O negative?”

He puts his hand over his eyes, draining the rest of the bottle in one drink, and sat down at the desk, putting his feet up.

“I stockpiled B positive for you.” He said, tiredly. I stood behind him, my hands on his shoulders.

“But I want O negative. And ice cream. Mint chocolate chip.” I pouted, sticking my lip out and crossing my arms. He looked up at me. For a second, we silently war, him resolute and me pleading with my best puppy eyes. Eventually, he threw down the phone and stomped off down the stairs for the kitchen, grumbling to himself. I returned to the bed, smiling. I took one of the books off the bookshelf as I pass, a well-worn copy of Wuthering Heights, that honestly surprised me at its placement here.

Klaus stomped back up the stairs, a blood bag stuck in his mouth, one in his hand, and a stack of two bowls and two spoons balanced in the other. The carton was balanced precariously on top. His scowl was a dark cloud.

“Thank you.” I said merrily, snatching a bowl and spoon from his hands. He threw the rest of the stuff down and collapsed next to me, undressing as he went. I scooped out a large portion of the green comfort food, and dug in, taking sips of my blood bag as I went. They tasted good together. Klaus took a bowl as well, making me smile at him for doing something so human as eating ice cream in bed.

“Why did you want ice cream and blood at three AM?” He asked his mouth full of ice cream.

“The baby has odd tastes.” I giggled, handing him a napkin. He looks at me incredulously and I laughed, taking it in my own hand and wiping his face.  He laughed, snatching the napkin from me and doing it himself.

“You can’t mother me.” He said, tossing the napkin on the bedside table. He put his bowl there too, and took mine as well, shutting off the lights while he’s there.

Klaus pulled me into him, his arms wrapped around my frame. I sighed, once again my eyelids falling shut, Klaus as my pillow.

*Bound By Blood*

**Bonnie POV**

“What the hell?” I thought throughout the day as I literally was dragged along behind Kol. It was like compulsion, though the pendent that I wore around my neck made it impossible. I didn’t really notice it that much until… Until I tried to shower.

When I walked into the bathroom and started stripping off, I could feel as though there was a metal cuff on my arm. I shook my arm as though it was nothing.  However, Kol thought different.

“WHAT THE FUCK?” He yelled, literally ramming into the door. Clumsily, he opened the door still being pulled. I am stunned, taking a few steps back. And Kol was dragged forward a couple inches as well.

I pressed my hand to my wrist, now feeling cold iron that wasn’t there. Kol ran his hand down an invisible chain.

“Come on.” He said darkly, tugging the chain again to cause me to stumble forward.

“Where are we going?” I said angrily, stepping out soaking wet. I dragged him towards the closet, slipping on a satin nighty and then stubbornly stand there, as he _attempted_ to drag me somewhere.

“My mother.” He spat, and frustratingly I consented.

*Bound By Blood*

“Esther!” Kol yelled through the door, banging on it. 2 AM and honestly, he expected her to be awake? “Esther? Mother? Esther!”

“What do you want?” She spat, throwing open the door. She had a black facemask on her forehead and a yellow robe wrapped around her which she kept playing with angrily.

Kol held up his wrist, forcing me to hold mine up as well. Esther smiled slightly, and opened the door. I dragged Kol inside.

“I wondered when the two of you would catch on….” She said mildly shutting the door and sitting down on the bed. Esther gestured to a pair of chairs in the corners. Again, I had to force Kol to sit, and be polite.

“Catch on? Catch on! Did you do this to us?” I screeched, shaking the imaginary cuffs as I spoke. Kol grumbled, his hand moving as well.

“Me?” Esther laughed. “You did this to yourselves.” When Kol raised his expressive eyebrows, she elaborated. “Do you know _why_ witches and warlocks don’t work together that often? Unless in a coven.”

I, and surprisingly, Kol shook our heads.

“You two work together correct? And have done a lot of dealing? Maybe finally got around to some fun in bed?” She hinted. I looked at Kol, wide-eyed. Oh shit.

“Indebted to each other. He did you a favor, so you did him a favor. Congratulations on the magical forever hand cuffs. Only reason you can feel them is the… consummation of your _bond._ ” Did sarcasm run in the family? She had to be kidding. She smiled, as Kol started getting angrier and angrier. Seriously? I lost my virginity and got this?

“How do we get them off?” He yelled, through clenched teeth.

“Why would you?” She says tiresomely, placing her hand over her eyes. I look at her confused. “What you two have… It’s incredible. Your powers are amplified by the thousands.”

I glanced down, running through my memories. I _had_ been less tired. And Kol… I could classify him as a wizard.

“The only way I could think of to get them off would be using up that much magical energy. A spell that would usually kill a witch.” She said pensively, then dismissively flicking her hand at the door. It swung open. “Now, goodnight.”

I gave her a non-appreciative smile and dragged Kol out into the hallway, beginning the walk back towards the bedroom.

“This is going to be interesting.” He muttered, walking through the door. I sat down on the bed as he, the chain still stretching, grabbed a blood bag from the mini fridge.

He slumped next to me.

“Have you ever heard of anything like this before?” I asked him, taking a half full bottle of bourbon from his side of the bedside table. He glared at me, shaking his head, and snatched the bottle away, taking a swig, then passed it back to me. I copy the action.

“I guess we can at least work now.” I turned back to the stone I had been meticulously examining. He began to whine, but I pulled him along never the less to the desk. I tapped the coffee maker. This was going to be an all-nighter.

*Bound By Blood*

**Caroline POV**

The incessant ringing was what woke me. That and the hybrid franticly scouring the room for the source. Through the window, the sky was stained the pale pink of dawn. Yawning, I straightened out my hair as Klaus found the phone amid a clan of empty alcohol bottles. Victoriously, he answered it.

“Go.” He says curtly.

“Niklaus.” A hardly accented Italian man said on the other end. Klaus shook off his sleepiness in a second, his eyes going very bright. “We have the Praetor. Would you rather us dispose of him or would you like to do the honors?” Klaus smiled evilly, the grin monstrously blood thirsty.

“No.” He said in a quiet, though powerful voice. His eyes flashing the harsh ice of winter. “Bring him to me.”

The man laughed.

“I thought as much. We’re bringing him to you now.”

“And the other alphas? The other packs?” Klaus asked.

“Scattered into the wind. I doubt they will be able to reform the full legion for a good fifty years. We fared well in the fight. Very few causalities. On our side.” There was a sort of companionship in the malevolency of the two men. Though the one on the phone seemed tamer, each were chatting about kills as though they were fine wines.

I crept into the bathroom, remembering what the mysterious man on the phone had said. Apparently, some pretty important people were about to grace the home and I was not going to be meeting anyone in maternity pajamas.

Pausing only to vomit, I strolled into the walk in closet.  From what I could hear, Klaus was off the phone, and somewhere in the house, noisily waking the occupants. My three trunks were stacked in an orderly fashion at the center of the room, while the cabinets and such were bare wood. The only contents were some jewels on display next to a barren vanity.

Immediately, a belt made out of diamond shaped sapphire caught my eye. I take it in my hand, running my fingers over the smooth stones. I then remembered one of the dresses I bought in Paris. Digging around in the clutter, I pull out a silver toga dress, the skirt water falling down. In the mirror I smiled to myself as I held it up. Perfect.

With the dress on, my bump wasn’t that noticeable, though the belt did attract attention to my midsection. I fix my hair in a long trail of curls down my back and a dash of bright red lipstick on my lips; I look like an old black and white film star. I admire myself in the mirror, before slipping on a pair of silver gladiator sandals and walk back out into the room. Klaus was just fixing his suit, looking rather dashing in my opinion. Evilly dashing that is.

"How do I look?" He asked, spreading his arm. With a frown, I motherly pushed his hair away from his face and straightened his tie.

"Ready for a ball." I told him. "Didn't know you needed to dress up for an execution."

He rolled his eyes and started to climb down the stairs. I followed, going much slower and clutching the railing. Lately I was so unbalanced. When we got downstairs, I instantly went to the kitchen and grabbed two blood bags, downing them unceremoniously.

Kol and Bonnie were the first people down the stairs. He wore a dark suit, without a tie, and his hair messily slicked back, while Bonnie, who dragged him down the stairs, somehow, wore a cute little green sleeveless dress that conformed to her curves.

“Why do we have to do this?” She asked, as Kol walked down the last steps, and she did too.  Bonnie tried to dig her heels in to stop, but failed. I looked quizzically at the pair.

“Because I want to.” Kol said gleefully, pouring himself a drink from the sideboard.

“And why are you dragging your girlfriend around?” Klaus asked sarcastically, snatching the bottle away from his brother and taking a swig. I had given up on getting him to quit that particularly unsavory habit.

“I’m not his girlfriend.” Bonnie corrected automatically. Kol smirked.

“Oh I’m sorry… Fuck buddy?” Klaus taunted. I hiss “shut up” at him. Bonnie turns red as Kol’s grin widened. “So why are you dragging your _lover_ around?”

“Ask your mother. I don’t even understand.” Bonnie said, sullenly sitting on the plush couch. “We’re magically chained together.”

Klaus and I couldn’t help but laugh, though Kol and Bonnie don’t find the situation funny at all, wearing scowls. We couldn’t see the “handcuffs” though by their positioning, it was clear they were there.

“This isn’t funny.” Bonnie said her eyes agates of ice.

“Alright, alright I’m sorry!” I laughed, half-heartedly attempting to stop. Klaus doesn’t, giving his younger brother a smirking look and mouthing “congratulations.”

Katherine stomped down the stair next, irritably bringing her black heels down with force as she went down the stairs. Her black jacket hung off her shoulder, and her red dress clung to her doll like form.  Elijah ran after her, his hair a mess and suit half done.

“Katarina!” He shouted. “Wait!” He vamp-sped to her, roughly placing a hand on her shoulder and turning her around. “I didn’t mean it…”

“Really? You didn’t mean to say I’m a coward?!?” She shrieked, moving away from him. We watched amused, as more and more of the occupants of the house, crept down the stairs to watch the blow out.

“Stop being over dramatic!” He yelled tiresomely. “You know I didn’t mean it.”

“Then why did you say it?!” she carried on. The fight had spilled out into the front room, allowing the other to creep down the stairs and into the section where we were sitting.

Damon lay back with a smug expression on her face. To Stefan, he said “finally, someone else learned how to fight with her.”

“Because I wasn’t thinking!” Elijah whined.

Kol laughed. The pair glared at him.

“What? The only thing Elijah can think about is doppelgangers and his hair so….”

“Shut up Kol.” They say simultaneously.

“Why am I even still here?” Katherine said, walking out the door.

“Katarina!” Elijah yelled, running after her. He slammed the door after himself. “Katarina! Don’t leave! Katarina.”

Klaus opened the window and stuck his head out.

“You’re coming off desperate!” He yelled out at the retreating form of his brother running after his lover. Klaus shut the window with a satisfied smirk.

“Don’t torture your brother, Niklaus.” Esther said, striding into the room. Klaus rolled his eyes, defiantly flicking Kol on the ear.

“Hey!” Kol whined, hitting Klaus back in the arm. He responded my punching him again. Pretty soon, the siblings were engaged in a miniature brawl. I didn’t even care anymore, walking into the kitchen and taking another blood bag out of the fridge. As I sipped it, I noticed the collection of cars driving up to the gate. Oh dear.

Trashing the blood bag and rushing back into the room, I fixed my hair in the mirror, calling out “they’re here” to the others in the next room. I added another swipe of lipstick as the front door creaked open. The clanking of chains echoed and the clicking of shoes as Klaus, Rebekah, and Kol loudly greeted the people in Italian. Somewhere there had to have been introductions because Damon and Stefan’s voices joined the mix, both in Italian, though Damon’s seemed more free flowing than Stefan’s.

I put a smile on, as I always did in uncomfortable situation, and walked into the room. There were three men and two women. They looked very ‘Italian,’ dark hair, luminous eyes, easy smiles, and radiated luxury and wealth from their clothing and the off-handed way the women wore jewels. Two of the men, had mustaches, one Hitler-ized and the other bushy and out of control. The unshaven one’s hair was peppered with gray.

“Caroline.” Klaus said surprisingly warmly, so different from his usual homicidal tendencies. I kept the smile on my face, a little stiff. Every move counted. I couldn’t make any notice to my stomach. I just hoped the amount of people in the room would disguise the beating of my baby’s heart. Confidently, I walk to Klaus’s side.

“So this is the little blonde you kept going on and on about the last time you were in Italy.” The older man said benevolently, taking my hand and placing a delicate kiss on it. I blushed. Damon snorted behind all of us and Elena threw him a look. “Welcome to Italia, signorina.”

Klaus glared at him.

“Where is the prisoner, Sforza? Emilio, I hope you didn’t just make this trip to flirt with my wife.” Klaus said, his impatience growing.

“Sorry,” I apologized, placing an arm on his shoulder, “He gets a little grumpy if doesn’t have a murder before noon.”

The men in the party laugh jovially, walking towards the door, while the women look slightly alarmed. I’m the last one out the door, mouthing to my friends, “Stay.” Stefan rolled his eyes, Rebekah, who had somehow avoided all the noise and fighting and had just arrived, mouthed “are you sure?” I nodded my head.

The stone paths made it easy for us to walk in heels. Klaus walked ahead of me, talking with the male vampires. In silence, the women walked with me.

“How did you meet Niklaus?” The one with the emerald earrings asked me.

“He saved my life.” I answered. “And you two are?”

“Petronilla Contarini” the one who spoke first said, offering me her hand. I took it with a grin.

“Lucrezia Medici” introduced the other.

“I didn’t know vampires got married.” I said awkwardly, looking for some way to make conversation.

“They don’t for quite a while.” Lucrezia says.  “Until you break him from various habits of… sleeping around.”

“Klaus doesn’t do that… He’s got an issue with hurting my friends.” I said hesitantly. Near the reflecting pool, the Praetor was forced to his knees, his hands cuffed behind his back. His dark head was bent in defeat.

“But, he’s a lot better than when my husband met him all those years ago. He compelled the Vatican. You’ve tamed the beast.”

“There’s no way in hell he’s tame. Look.” I laughed, as we stand a bit further off from the confrontation.

“Keys, Medici.” He ordered, holding his hand out and standing in front of the bent man. De Lupo looks up now, his face bruised and bloody.

“Leo.” He snarled, as the man handed Klaus the keys. He reached behind the man and unlocked the cuffs. He fell forward on his hands and knees. “Didn’t know you were at the beck and call of the Originals.”

“Giuseppe de Lupo.” Klaus said, pacing in front of the man, his eyes turning a harsh navy. “You stand accused of treachery, conspiring with the enemy, and attempted murder. In addition, you have forfeited your right as Praetor of Rome by breaking the laws set in place by your forefathers nine hundred years ago.  Your packs are dead, your legions scattered. Your city now lies in the hands of the vampire lords of the North. The only thing you have to do,” Klaus stopped in front of him and bent down forcing him to look in his eyes. So much hatred is in the _former_ leader of Rome’s eyes. “is die.”

“I believe you should die by your own hand though.” Klaus finished. “The sword, Fiero.” The last unnamed man hands Klaus a flat golden blade, that look ancient though well cared for.

“Brachium Romae” Giuseppe whispered.

“So glad you recognized it. The Arm of Rome passed down from Praetor to Praetor since the days of Romulus and Remus. Your ancestors, correct?” Klaus taunted. The man spat on his feet.

“Enough games.” Klaus roughly grabs the back of the man’s shirt and pushes him so that his head hung over the lip of the pool. “Any last words?”

“An abomination like you,” He spat, still defiantly holding his head up high, “will never win.” And with that the man’s head fell into the pool with one smooth sword swing from Klaus. The scarlet liquid burst from the severed neck and started draining into the pool, turning the azure water red.  Blood had splattered all the men, Klaus’s suit being the most ‘red.’

I scared myself in how I merely observed the scene. I didn’t feel horror, or remorse, or anything. I was cold and unfeeling. What was happening to me?

Klaus took out a linen handkerchief and calmly wiped his face of the beads of blood, then starts to walk away still clutching the sword.

“Come along Caroline.” He told me, earning him a nasty look. “We have a yacht to catch.”

“Wait!” called one of the men, Leo. “What are we supposed to do now?”

Klaus turns around and with a cynical grin.

“Do what you do best. Rule.” He says, and then wrinkled his nose at the body. “And get someone to clean up this mess.”

I followed him back through the paths, completely and utterly ignoring the “secluded” area where Katherine and Elijah were minutes away from passionate make-up sex.

“Caroline” Klaus said, stopping in the middle of a crossroaded path. “Are you alright? You’re never this quiet.”

I nodded my head and forced a grin.

“I’m fine.” Though I really wasn’t.

“Are you upset about me killing de Lupo? He deserved it.” He said, grabbing my hand.

“I’m… I’m not upset about that. I’m upset because…” My lip quivered. “Because I just passively stood there and watched you behead someone!”

Stupid hormones. For absolutely no reason, I was crying.

“I’m turning into a monster.” I sobbed. Klaus awkwardly pulled me into a hug, running his hand through my hair in a soothing gesture. I wiped my snotty, gross nose on his bloody white dress shirt. The baby kicked as the bump lightly touched him. He pressed his lips to my forehead in a teasing comforting way, then began to move down my face, kissing the frown and worry lines between my eyes, the thin band of sandy freckles on my nose, and finally stopping at my lips. It was a sweet kiss, his mouth soft against mine. No tongue either, just compression. Funnily enough, only with Klaus did I ever do this. I didn’t feel the hunger for more, or horniness. All I felt was peace when we kissed. He pulls away and stares right through me, his dark blue eyes penetrating and seeing into my soul. I stare at the tan gravel path.

“Never say that.” He said, seriously, and forced me to look at him. “I’m supposed to be the monster remember? You are the…” Klaus searched for the right words, while brushing the mascara tracks off of my face with his thumb. “The sun. One spot of darkness cannot extinguish you forever.”

It’s a wistful hopefulness that fills me. I want to believe him, but keep down, I can feel myself “embracing my vampirism.”

“Being a vampire doesn’t make you evil, Caroline.” Klaus said, as though he could read my mind. I raise one eyebrow at him, thinking of all the “bad vampires” I had encountered over the years. “Vampires are a creature of darkness. That’s not a choice. Though, what makes you good or evil is not what you are but what you chose to be.”

I smile up at him, not even using my words. He’s the eloquent one, not me. I’m better with actions.

Slowly, I press my nose to his, standing on my tip toes as I make contact. Then, I press my lips to his, a light butterfly kiss.

“Thank you.” I whisper quietly.

Our son seems to have appreciated his father’s speech, eagerly kicking the interior of my abdomen. I spread my lips into one of those motherly smiles as Klaus holds me against his chest and run my fingers in spirals on my bump. Klaus doesn’t pay any attention to it, though he’s still holding me, his gaze is set on the slowly reddening pool.

 

**For those who might not know, a praetor is the leader of a legion, which is a Roman military unit.**

**Translation of the Italian:**

**_Part One_ **

_“Un amico. Che diavolo sta succedendo?”_

_A friend. What the hell is going on?_

_“Un cambio di programma.”_

_A change in plans._

_“Perché?”_

_Why?_

_“Un conoscente di tuo ci ha fatto visita._ _Le vostre azioni hanno fatto non è più il benvenuto qui, mostruosità.“_

_An acquaintance of yours visited us. Your actions have made you no longer welcome here, monstrosity._

_Lascia ibrida. Mai tornare a Roma._

_Leave Hybrid. Never return to Rome._

**_Part Two_ **

****

_Ho un appuntamento con il signor di Angelo_

_I have an appointment with Mr. di Angelo_

_Nome?_

_Name?_

_Da questa parte._

_Right this way._

**I’d love some reviews loves!**


	30. Elysium

Bound By Blood

**Chapter XXX: Elysium**

**_16- 17 weeks left_ **

_Magic happens when the heart opens to love & bliss, _

_There's magic in that special kiss,_

_Theres magic seen in another's eyes & smile, _

_There's magic found in music that makes us want to sway all the while,_

_There's magic in the dawn of a new day & in a sunset's glow, _

_There's magic seen in new fallen snow,_

_There's magic in starry nights,_

_And at twilight,_

_There's magic in still water or when cascading waters part,_

_There's magic when we create a work of art._

_-Magic, Jean Dament_

**Caroline POV**

“Mommy?” I asked tentatively as the boat rocked under my feet. The cool salty breeze of the Mediterranean blew my hair in a swirl around my face as the Skype chat powered to life. My mom’s tired lined face appears on the computer screen. She’s in her uniform, sadly meaning she had since returned to Mystic Falls, and her short blonde hair ruffled. My mom, the workaholic.

“Caroline!” She cried out, a wide smile stretching across her sleepy face. I had forgotten about the time difference. It had to either extreme early or extremely late. Meaning, she was working herself too hard. Again. “Where are you?” she yawned covering her mouth.

“Well… We’re on the way to Greece now.” I took the laptop in my hands, slowly moving the camera around the deck, showing my mother the perfect waves, the aquamarine water, the bright sun, and, of course, the ever present chaos that was this dysfunctional family.

Finn, Sage, and Esther were below deck, at least, though it didn’t aid anything. Klaus and Kol were in the middle of attempting to dunk Elijah over board, much to his chagrin. He had since changed out of his bloodied suit, as everyone else had. Klaus, Kol, Damon, and Stefan wore khaki cargo shorts and those thin linen shirts that were basically see through. Klaus, Damon, and Stefan wore white, while Kol’s was quite unique in his green. I had thrown on one of my maternity dress, a white long one, and sandals under a bikini before we left the house. My son ever so often reminded me of my state with a hard occasional kick.

Damon and Stefan were throwing a football, playing a pickup game with Jeremy and Alaric, sometimes hitting themselves or their opponents in the head, with vampire strength. Elena had since given up trying to scold then, instead coming over to sit next to me.

“Hi Liz!” She greeted brightly, waving at my mother through the screen. My mom wore a frown as she looks at the scene. We look… normal.

“Caroline… Aren’t they supposed to be dead?” she asked, pointing to Alaric and Jeremy.

“Didn’t you tell her Caroline?” Bonnie said, popping up behind me and leaning on my shoulder. “They were resurrected.”

“And who else was?” She said tiresomely, pressing her fingers to her eyes. The worry lines between her eyebrows folded together.

“Basically the whole Mikaelson family…” I said sheepishly. They had basically turned the town into their own family battle sight, making my mother’s job quite hellish.

“Their parents too? And the sibling you killed in front of the Grill?” I nodded. She sighed.

“Are you coming back to Mystic Falls? I’d hate for you to miss Prom… And graduation.” She knew how to hit me. Hard. Elena, Bonnie, and I had been dreaming about our Senior Prom since we watched Jenna go to hers all those years ago. If the circumstances had been different, I would be home, planning the living shit out of this. Not to mention graduation. I mean it was _the_ right of passage.

“When is it?” Elena burst _very_ seriously. My mom started shifting papers around on the desk, eventually pulling out a cream invitation covered in dark black script.

“Ummm…. Two weeks? Ish.” She said, reading the date. I whirled around to look at Klaus. Somehow, they had dunked the still “suited” Elijah into the water, soaking his clothes. The pouting elder Original sat next to Katherine, who had a towel around his shoulder and was whispering some surprisingly…. Dirty things in his ears. His face grew redder by the second, then finally pulling the older doppelganger with him below decks. The sounds… I tried to block them out. We all did.

“Hey Klaus?” I called. His head shot up from high fiving Kol and mocking Elijah. “Can we get back to Mystic Falls as soon as we’re done here?”

Every single person on the boat (besides Elena and Bonnie) stopped what they were doing and looked at me quizzically.

“Why?” He said uncomprehendingly, his eyebrows pushed together in the expression I often got whenever I reference pop culture.

“Is this one of your pregnant whims?” Damon asked sarcastically, putting down the pigskin ball on the deck. “Because I’m pretty sure they are just signs of temporary insanity.” Elena crossed her arms and glared at him.

“No!” I said, pouting and rolling my eyes. “I don’t want to miss prom.” I didn’t even add the ‘duh!’ in there but it was extremely and very clearly implied. Rebekah let out a shriek from her place of ignoring everything at the stern of the boat and vampire sped next to me.

“DID I MISS IT?” She accused, giving Klaus the evil eye. “Nik, if you made me miss another dance, so help me I will…”

“You didn’t miss the stupid dance!” Klaus shouted, agitated. “And why do you even want to go in the first place? It’s just some silly little high school dance. You’ve been to a hundred.”

Rebekah’s eyes turned a flinty gray, the color of the sky before a hellish storm.

“I. Have. Never. Been. To. Prom.” She said, enunciating every syllable, and taking one step closer with each into her brother’s face.

Klaus laughed, bemused.

“Pleeeeeaaaaaaasssssssseeeeeee Klaus.” I said, popping up from my seat to lean on his arm. He didn’t stop laughing.

“I’ve got bigger things to worry about than this.” He was seriously laughing at us! “I mean, Silas and probably Mikael are roving the streets of the tiny town right now. Who knows, maybe they are having a drink at the grill or meandering around that high school you all only show up to for dances.”

Damon raised his glass to that, and took a long drink of the vodka.

“But I want my crown.” I whined, tugging at his shirt. I felt like a child, having a tantrum, but I was, by no means, missing Senior Prom.

“What crown? I have a thousand you can try on, love.” I rolled my eyes.

“But I wouldn’t have earned those. I have been planning to win Prom Queen since I was 8. There is no way I’m skipping this.” I said steadfastly. My mom laughed from the computer and I turned back around to sit there. Bonnie had come to join us, looking thoughtfully at a grimorie that appeared out of nowhere.

“Do you three remember when you stole Jenna’s old prom dress and took turns trying it on?” She laughed. I turned bright red, while Bonnie looks at her feet and Elena, the sky. “And then Elena tripped down the stairs and got it all muddy. And then you ripped the muddy part off and Bonnie cried because you two ruined it before she could have her turn.”

I was absolutely mortified. This was nearly as bad as the time my mom showed Tyler my baby pictures when I was “running late.” I reminded myself to burn or bury those the moment I got home.

Yet, Damon was laughing between his hiccups, due to his quick intake of alcohol; Klaus was wearing a teasing grin, and Kol. Poor Bonnie. He was doing the “expressions with his eyebrows” thing again, and pulling the invisible chain that linked them towards him.

“We should be done in Greece by the end of the week.” Bonnie said thoughtfully. She hadn’t been _as_ into the whole “dances” thing, especially because her lack of steady boyfriend and/or how she always was called off to do some spell. “And…” Then Rebekah cut her off.

“So it’s settled. We’re going.” Rebekah said, and immediately Klaus started protesting, listing out a trillion complications. Before he could get to me, however, with an evil grin, I turned to the screen.

“Can you RSVP for four of us, each plus one?” I whispered to my mom. She nodded her head and glanced at her watch.

“Care, honey, I’m off to bed, but I’ll call you later.” She said. I blew her a kiss, and the connection fizzled out.

“AND FURTHER MORE I AM NOT GOING BACK TO THAT TOWN” Klaus yelled, his face scarlet. I crept up behind him.

“Too late.” I said, quite cheerfully. Rebekah made a none too subtle “yes!” fist pump and smugly smiled at Klaus, before prancing off in the general direction of Stefan. “At least I don’t have to go date hunting.” I giggled. Klaus groaned and Damon’s eyebrows shot up.

“Dammit.” He muttered, grabbing the whole bottle of vodka.

“What?” Elena asked, snatching the bottle from him and setting it back on the sideboard.

“I have to go to another one of those stupid things.” Damon whined. “I mean, there not even any alcohol to dull the whole fiasco.”

Elena rolled her eyes.

“You don’t _need_ alcohol. In fact, Ric, why don’t sign Damon up for Alcoholics Anonymous when we get back into town?” She said with a poisonously threating smile. Damon groaned, and Klaus clapped him on the back, grabbing the bottle.

“Don’t worry mate. You can just smuggle some in the back.”

Elena sent him a death glare, though Damon is already way ahead of him, pulling out Alaric’s old flask and taking a swig.

Bonnie sat up, and tapped a weathered page in the leather bound book.

“You don’t have a choice Klaus.” She said solemnly, letting Kol look at the page. His eyes flitted down the page, his brow furrowing. “If you want Caroline to survive, she’s going to have to have the baby in Mystic Falls.”

“Why?” I asked. It wasn’t like I didn’t want to have my baby in my hometown. I just wanted to know why I wouldn’t survive if I had it anywhere else.

“The baby was conceived there correct?” She said with clinical seriousness. I blushed and nodded. “Therefore, the child will draw upon the power of the conception. It doesn’t have to be in the exact same spot, but being close enough will be good enough.”

Klaus sighed resigned and drained the rest of the bottle. I guess I was going to Prom pregnant.

*Bound By Blood*

**Klaus POV**

The Greek home was relatively new, though the furnishings and contents of the home were very old.

Like all the homes on the island, it was of white stucco, with the radiant blue dome as a roof. Only difference was, the home, which I had christened in the seventies “Elysium,” was situated in a quiet cove, surrounded by empty pastures.

It certainly didn’t feel like Heaven.  The quietness was replaced by the insanity that came from the transport of the chaos of Mystic Falls that followed me here.

Combined with the pregnancy, the 3 hour car ride, and the _eleven_ hour hellish boating journey, had left Caroline exhausted, leaving me to carry her up to bed.

My younger brother, however, had boundless energy, much to the despair of my mother and his witch. The moment we landed, he ran to the study and began making calls, writing out lists, and coercing the two witches to look at the ancient grimorie that he had dubbed the “Book of Hecate.”

I must have fallen asleep next to sweet, stubborn Caroline, partly because A) when I woke up this morning, I was still in the clothes from yesterday, and B) it was early morning, judging by the mist on the fields and the low sun in the east.

Caroline always slept on her left side, hands under her head. Her arms curved down, one going to cradle her stomach, and the other to wrap around me. Without disturbing her, I slightly move to access the phone in my pocket, whose persistent buzzing had so rudely awoken me.

_5 new messages._

Annoyed, I unlocked the phone to check my texts, finding each and every one of them were from, who else, Kol.

_Brother- Where are the blood bags?_

_Nik, WHY ARE MY GRIMORIES HIDDEN IN THE BATHROOM?_

_Niklaus- Mother wants to know why there is thirty year old pot under the sofa_

_Nik, Can we borrow the boat?_

_Too late we already did, be back by sundown._

Ugh.

My brother was probably the most irritating creature on the planet. I abandoned Caroline in the bed and rushed down the stairs to see if the asshole actually followed through with his threat.

Sure enough, the dock was bare. I stood on the wood, savoring the tranquility of the water, the surrounding countryside, and the absence of my family.

Water always calmed. At least until Mikael started using it as a weapon against me, I had always run to the nearby river or the Falls. Learning how to swim had been one of the few good memories of my childhood. Elijah and Finn had taught me, tossing me between them. I had been only 4 or 5, I think, though I had taken to it like a fish. After we turned, I had gotten better, even doing the Olympic Trials a couple of times. On a whim, I threw off my shirt, tossing my cell phone on top of it, and decided to take a dip in the water.

Water didn’t blur my vision like it had long ago when I was human.  The fish broke from their schools, the colors flying in a million different directions like a Jackson Pollock painting. The Blues zigzagged in between the oranges, while the yellows and red swam vertically by each other. In the distance, the reefs teemed with life.

I could only hold my breath for so long, though I could dive as far as it went. The cove was secluded, now, though once it had been a bustling port city, anciently. There were a couple of old shipwrecks at the bottom, in the distance, and the entire sandy bottom was covered in fallen cargo. Vases, golden coins, weapons, the typical content of a harbor.

Eventually, I tired of rediscovering the old places I had once explored so eagerly, I headed back up to the beach. With my hearing, I noticed the house slowly coming to life. The hum of the coffeemaker, yawning, the sound of slamming doors. Elijah walked out onto the terrace with a cup of coffee in his hand. I sunk down in the water, not being fond of my brother’s morning cheeriness. However, he noticed me and hurried down the steps and onto the beach. Frustratingly, I pulled myself, dripping, onto the dock.

“Morning Niklaus.” Elijah said cordially, tossing me a towel from the neatly folded pile in a holder. I wiped the water from my face, glaring at him as he made himself at home in a deck chair and sipped his coffee, getting ready for a nice long lecture. The idiot had gone for casual this morning, in a white long sleeved Oxford and black dress pants.

“What would you like to tell me for this morning’s morality lesson?” I asked acidly, glaring at him. His eyebrows rose over the white mug in false surprise.

“It’s not about morality.” He said, neither confirming nor denying I was about to get a “parental” lecture.

“Then what is it about? How yesterday left a man’s head in the pool? You know its red now. I think I’ll keep it that way.”

He gave me a look of either of disappointment or exasperation.

“It’s about Caroline.” Elijah said solemnly, draining the cup and setting it down on the wicker table.

“My interest is piqued.” I said, pressing my fingers to my lips, taking out a bottle of bourbon and a glass from under the table.

“When are you going to marry her?” I took my first sip of the liquor only to prompting spew it back out again.

“What?” I asked, hastily taking another sip of my drink. Was my brother insane?

“I assume after she has the child, though…”

I cut him off.

“Why do you think we are going to get married? Vampires don’t get married! That’s human idiocy.” I protested. The concept was so foreign to me, so human, it was laughable.

“Vampires also don’t have children.” He said rather pointedly. I don’t say anything, crossing my arms over my bare chest. “I’ve seen your sketchbook, Niklaus. Don’t lie to me and say that that sketchbook doesn’t say _several_ times Caroline Mikaelson. Those are the very least, proof you are just as human as the rest of us.”

I turned red in spite of myself.

“You were snooping in my _private_ things!” I growled, though Elijah remained stoic as ever, his face a mask.

“No. I was merely looking at your art. What sort of ring are you going to get her?” He insisted, picking up the mug from the table and walking back down the dock. I slammed my empty glass down in its place and stormed after him.

“Why do you think I have to marry her?” I snarled angrily, speeding in front of him. His eyebrows raised in bemusement.

“Why are you lying and saying that you don’t? What do you fear Niklaus? Rejection? The girl is carrying your child. I hardly expect her to say no.”

“It’s not that Elijah.” I said, utterly defeated. I guess I could bare all to my brother, for once. “I’m accustomed to rejection from Caroline. I got a full year of it. I just… don’t want to do it wrong.”

“Just get the ring brother. When the moment’s right, you’ll know.” He said, trying to sound elderly and wise. I rolled my eyes.

“Since when did you become my romantic Yoda?” I asked, walking back with him to the house.

“Yo-da?” Elijah said, confused, and splitting the word into two parts. “I don’t understand.”

I laughed, remembering that Elijah had missed some of the best forms of entertainment in a few centuries.

He rolled his eyes in a “whatever” gesture, and plunged his hand into his pocket.

“I forgot I had this.” He said, holding out a fistful of cream paper. I snatched it from him and examined them. Sketches. They weren’t recent, though I had kept them for some strange reason. It had been during the period of my life where landscapes attracted me. And of course, my obsession with wolves. They dotted the work, though in one they took up the whole page. Though these were just black and white drawings, I had turned the last one into an entire painting, entitled “The Hunt.”

“Why did you take them?” I growled, getting protective over the art. It had always been _mine. I_ chose who got to see it. _I_ was the master of it.

Elijah look offend at me, surprisingly stunned at my outburst.

“I thought I could use them as an appropriate gift for my nephew.” He said, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. However, I was extremely confused.

“Remember the cradle we had when we were children?” He asked, and I nodded. All of us had used it, when we were too young to be out of Mother’s sight. And each of us had left our own mark on the old thing.

Finn had kicked out the end, leaving Mikael to repair it crookedly.

Elijah, though according to our mother the perfect child, had started teething on the wood.

I was artistically inclined in the cradle, scratching at the carvings on the top of it. Apparently, I had thought the family of wolves wasn’t to my liking.

Kol, though I had been the only one to see it, had blasted the sides out when he was 2. I had been only 4, though somehow the two of us had haphazardly managed to fix the thing, with seven year old Elijah’s help.

Rebekah had vomited all over the interior, given her colic, or as we had referred to it at the time, her nasty disposition.

And of course… Hendrik. He was the good baby, the one who spent the least time in the crib. Though his mark on it was much different, he was the last one to use it.

That piece of our childhood had burned down along with the rest of our village when we burned it to the ground when we turned. At the time, I had thought to salvage nothing, though Kol had obviously run back into the flames and rescued his precious grimories. No, I sort of wished I had saved the old thing, for my own son.

Elijah must have been thinking of it too, because he was as quiet as I was climbing up those stairs, still probably a thousand years into the past.

“Anyways, I took them to a friend of mine. Well, the family of a friend of mine. They specialize in wood carvings, you know the classically way. I commissioned a crib with these on them.”

He looked immensely proud of himself, seemingly waiting for me to put a gold star on his chart of “good behavior.” Inwardly, I cursed to myself, for not thinking of it first. For lack of better response, I awkwardly pat my brother on the back, saying thank you. He returned back into the house, and presumably back to Katarina, while I stay out on the terrace. On a whim, I pulled out a pad of paper and started to sketch.

This pad is blank, like many I leave lying around my homes, though soon it gets covered with one face, form, and figure.

Caroline.

She had consumed my thoughts. And the issue of everything to do with her seemed to constantly come at me.

However, the next person to disturb my silence was not the blonde.

The elder Salvatore clumsily made his way down the stairs, following the scent of the coffee that my brother had brewed. The doppelganger was yelling after him quite rudely, for the elixir as well.

“Morning” Damon said, covering his mouth with his hand to cover up a yawn. I looked up at him and gave him a slight nod of my head.

Vomiting sounds come from my bedroom. Damon looked to the ceiling and smirked.

“Are you going to deal with that?” He smirked, “irishing” up his coffee with the alcohol from his flask.

“Nope.” I said, popping the “p” of the word and stumbling over to the coffee maker. From the depths of the house, I hear my name being called.

“Klaus? Klaus!” Caroline called. I could hear her, making it unnecessary to yell, though she sometimes forgot vampiric abilities.

 I ignored her, letting Damon smirk at me. Caroline exhaled, frustrated, and stormed down the stairs.

“Klaus!” She yelled coming up behind me. I turned to look at her.

Her cream nightie hung off of her figure, accenting every curve. Her face was petulant and her arms were crossed over her chest.

“Are you ignoring me?” She said, bitingly. I focused on the floor, refusing to meet her eyes.

“No…” I mumbled. From behind me, Damon sniggered and crept back up the stairs with two cups of coffee. “Did you need something?”

She still glared at me, though her expression turned slightly less angry.

“I needed to make sure that you’re taking me to Prom.” She said her voice a bit quiet and small.

She surprised me. She always does. Caroline said it like it wasn’t a question, not an option. A couple of months ago, I only could have hoped for that.

“Of course, love.” I say, as chivalrously as I could. She grinned at me and looked around.

“Where _is_ everyone?” She said, frowning at the empty kitchen.

“Bonnie and Kol have run off to the mainland doing god knows what. I suppose they dragged along my mother as well.” I drawled, walking back out onto the terrace with my coffee. She doesn’t follow me, instead putting a kettle on the stove. “And everyone else? _They_ are probably still asleep.”

“So what got you up and why are you all wet?” She asked, all business-like.

“Stupid Kol.” I muttered, and picking back up the pad of paper and the brown sketching pencil. “And I went for a swim.”

“Why?” She said, cocking her head to the side and taking the kettle off of the stove and plopping a tea bag into a mug.

“I felt like it.” I said, starting a new page. It took only a few seconds to draw out Caroline’s form. Her hair falls down in her natural state, messy straightness. The ski slope nose tilted down, as she looked at down her rounded stomach, leaving her hands placed on the top and bottom of the bump.

From all these sketches, I probably could—should do a show over this topic alone.

Family.

I hadn’t had such a “happy” topic for my inspiration in god knows how long.

She sat down beside me slowly, as though she expected her pace to make her tip over. Her phone is clutched in her right hand, glowing with a text message.

Unlocking the cell, she typed in her passcode, and pursed her lips together, as she read.

“Who’s that?” I asked, not even looking up.

“Bonnie.” She answered, as she furiously responded. “Apparently your brother’s an idiot and they are coming back now. He didn’t even let them sleep at all.”

Gossip must make her feel good. Whenever she came to “distract” me, she had always somehow slipped in those little tidbits. Though I tried extremely hard not to, between Rebekah and Caroline, I seemed to know anything and everything going on at that high school.

“I think he has ADHD.” I commented, starting again on another page. Reaching into my pocket, I pull out the old sketches. Several of them were good, but not great. I chose one, and begin to redo it, on the clean sheet.

“I thought vampirism healed everything.” She teased, watching me draw. Usually I would feel uncomfortable with someone peering over my shoulder, but with Caroline it felt normal.

“Kol is special.” I told her. I was semi-ignoring her, sort of hoping she would leave. The drawing were turning out quite nicely. Caroline babbled on about various things and arrangements as I sketched, thinking that I should probably do some sort of art for my son’s room. I had been working on some pieces in Paris that could work, with a little tweaking. She had mentioned a lot of things to do with the baby in her chatter. Names mostly.

When she finally took the hint, she got up with a sign.

“I’m going to change.” She announced and waddled back towards the stairs. “You could actually enjoy this instead of just sitting and drawing all day.” Caroline yelled. I ignored her again, though as soon as she was gone I whipped out my phone and searched through the vast amount of contacts.

With a Cheshire grin, I pressed on the one labeled “de Beers.” I guess it was time to find a ring.

*Bound By Blood*

**Bonnie POV**

“You’re a cocky dumbass.” I tell Kol as he sat slumped next to me on the “Hades.” Mutely, he agreed with me, turning the stone over and over in his hands. The boy had maniac energy, I’d give him that. His mother had already retreated below decks, for in her words, a well-deserved nap. When she said this, the glare she gave her youngest son could have frozen fire.

His fingers ran over the word roughly carved into the stone.

“I was so sure it would be there…” He murmured, tracing “Greece” with his long elegant pointer finger.

“Why? The Acropolis is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the Mediterranean. And I didn’t feel a single drop of magic there. If anything was there, it’s gone now.” I theorized, snatching the rock from him. Like it always did, warmth filled me when my skin contacted stone.

“But…” I shushed him. I turned the headstone over in my hands, rubbing the lettering in my hands. I didn’t know why I—or Shane—or anyone else who ever had the thing had noticed it before. I had to wonder if the writing—the carving—had appeared when my hands touched it.

“When do you think this was carved into here?” I wondered. Kol reached over and put his hand over mine.

I had always been the smallest of our group. The shortest, the one with the smallest cup size, the size 5 in shoes. I had always made up for it with power. However, I had never felt really _this_ small. His hand basically covered all of mine, leaving room to spare.

He took his hand off, and the warmth decreased.

“I… don’t know.” He said, perplexed, his bushy eyebrows furrowing.

“Painful for you to admit, Mikaelson?” I teased. “How do we figure it out then?”

He grinned at me.

“I’m surprised at you. Aren’t you the one with all the AP science classes? Magic isn’t the only answer to everything.”

I smacked my head to my forehead.

“I’m an idiot.” I muttered, shoving the rock back into my bag. “Do you guys have equipment back at the house?” I pulled out the sleek replacement of my beaten up old phone and quickly pounded out a message to Caroline.

_Kol was wrong. Tell Klaus that his brother is a dumb fuck that made me stay up all nite! Heading back now if I don’t kill him first._

_Xoxo B_

“Nik probably has a couple of old bongs lying around.” Kol laughed. I give him a look. Seriously? “Kidding, kidding! But we could probably get into the University of Athens’ labs tomorrow.”

Thoughtfully, he pulled out his phone from his shorts’ pocket, allowing several brown rectangular boxes to fall to the deck.

I pick one up as he bent down to get the others.

“Why in the hell do you have cigarettes?” I asked frowning at the neatly ordered sticks of death. They don’t look like the average kind of Malboros the rebel group at school smoked; these looked homemade with slightly green tips and a brown exterior. Kol snatched one out of the box and slides it between his lips.

“They aren’t just any cigarettes.” He says, superiorly, lighting it with flash of sparks from his fingers. The scent of the smoke was distinctly not nicotine. It smelled almost… herbal. He smirked as I turned the box over in my hand, noticing the word written on it in faint black sharpie.

_Sage._

“Where did you get pre-rolled Sage cigarettes? Do you want a repeat of last time?” I berated him, tossing back the box with disgust.

“A dealer out of Istanbul, an old friend of mine, makes these for the Magi sprinkled across the Middle East. His contact here slipped them to me in the Marketplace.” He held out one to me before shoving it back into one of his pockets with the rest of them. I looked at him incredulously. Did I look like I did that sort of stuff on a regular basis?

“Come on, bird! These aren’t as strong as smoking the sage directly. They’re diluted, just giving you a little jolt.” I quizzically eye the cigarette, feeling my morals slowly being struck down by the army of devils on my shoulder. It wasn’t bad, they told me. It didn’t have nicotine in it, so it wasn’t like it could hurt me.

My eyes had drooped so many times during the day; it was sort of futile to refuse a quick jolt. And come on, I had used sage before.

Tentatively, I took the stick from between his long fingers and bring it to my mouth. With his own, he ignites it, the sweet smoke instantly filling my lungs. I drag it out, feeling a bit glamorous.

“See it’s not so bad bird.” He said, taking a drag and staring out at the ocean through his sunglasses. The mid-morning light highlighted his profile, looking like a classic “rebel” out of the movies. The black shades covered his eyes, though the lenses a glimmer of gold shown. The swirl of green tinged gray smoke snakes curls from the stick squeezed between his pallid fingers. More of that smoke blows out of his mouth.

“Are you going to call the University?” I impatiently asked, mirroring his action of the dragging cigarette.

“Stop nagging me.” He said irritably, tapping in his phone. Frowning and confused, he stared at his contacts.

“How do I work this?” He asked, tossing me the phone. I stare at it, hardly believing that he couldn’t figure out the simplest of modern technology. I tapped on the contact and the mess gaging function came up with the contact.

I handed it back to Kol with a teasing grin, leading him to scowl angrily at me, toss the cigarette on the deck, and snuff it out with a turn of his foot. As he typed, I take another drag, feeling sinfully good. If my dad could see me now…

My dad.

I had never had a very close bond with Rudy. Yet, somehow for the past seven weeks I hadn’t even given a thought to if he was worried about me or if he even noticed I was gone. He hadn’t texted or called me, at least not on this phone. I had forgotten this one was new one momentarily. The old phone must have been blowing up with calls, at least I hoped.

I fearfully punched the numbers and wait pressing my phone to my ear. Almost instantly, the tired man’s voice fills my ear.

“Mayor Hopkins speaking.” His voice sounded as though the weight of the world was on his shoulders.

“Dad?” I said, attempting to keep my voice even, though it wavered slightly.

“Bonnie?” He said, wonder filling his voice. “BONNIE!” He repeated, this time a lot more anger rushing to his voice. “Where in the hell have you been?!? All I’ve gotten were vague answers from Sheriff Forbes and that one note from _seven_ weeks ago! SEVEN!”

Kol smirked next to me, finishing typing and listening to my scolding. From his pocket, he pulled out another one of those cigarettes. I brought mine to my lips again, taking a deep breath of sweet sage. I prayed my dad couldn’t tell what I was doing.

“I’m sorry Daddy.” I mouseily say.

“Sorry doesn’t cut it. Where. Are. You?” Steel is in his voice. I could see him like a vision, his hands on his desk and his dark brown eyes turning to black. The yacht slowed as the cove came into sight, making a wide and broad turn.

I sighed, exhaling smoke out towards the blue water.

“Greece.” I answered, Kol walked over to the bar and took out a bottle and returned to me. Tequila.

“HAVE BEEN THERE THE WHOLE TIME? OR HAVE YOU BEEN GALLIVATING THE WORLD WITH THOSE VAMPIRES YOU ASSOCIATE YOURSELF WITH _INSTEAD_ OF GOING TO CLASSES! YOU DON’T HAVE A MILLION CHANCES FOR A DO OVER LIKE THEY DO.” My dad exploded.

 Kol grinned at me, taking his cigarette out of his mouth to take a swig of the alcohol, and then offered me some. I accepted it, perching my cigarette and eagerly taking a drink. It burned my throat, though it woke me up, my fire returning to me.

“A. I _do_ have more time. Apparently with using expression, I got the same… advantage as my friends. B. I’ve gotten a hell of an education _gallivanting the globe_ than I would back in Mystic Falls, Small Town, USA. I’ve been to Miami, New Orleans, Paris, Rome and Greece. Seen and done things I didn’t even fathom. And C! I will be home in a week!”

Then, silence. I, yet again, had scared, maybe even stunned, my own father.

“We’ll talk about all this when we get home. And your mother and I will want a full explanation.” He said solemnly, his baritone voice hollow. And then the line goes out. I was confused. What was Abby doing back in Mystic Falls? I had sworn she had left after the whole drugging me thing.

“You’re in trouble” Kol said in a sing song voice. I shot him a glare and snatched the bottle from him, and took a hearty drink.

“Shut up.” I snapped. He laughed, taking the bottle from me and drinking.

“How are you going to tell them about us? You heard how your father talked about vampires.” He held up his hand to indicate the invisible chain that linked us. “And about this? You can’t go back home without me.”

His eyes were big and brown pools of chocolate that made me melt. I smiled up at him, a bit sadly, and sighed. I didn’t even know what to say. I… liked Kol certainly. His eager, puppy attitude. His cockiness. His brains, even though he tried to hide them. His… magic. How he turned it from something with a huge caution sign into something whimsical.  Did I love him? I mean, I had said it when I was higher than the sky and I remembered that. But now, was I clear minded, I had to ask myself that question.

Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t, but I was going to say it eventually. In some deep dark and dank corner of my brain, I knew.

“I love you.” I whispered, looking up into his eyes. At first, they just keep getting wider and wider, surprised in the beginning, then full of suspicion. It disappeared as soon as it came, the guards falling away from his eyes as he looks shyly down at his shoes. A slight redness tints his cheeks as he carefully set the half full bottle down and snuffed out the cigarette, only then looking at me.

Then, in all seriousness, he took my hands in his and looked penetratingly into my eyes, like at the end of fairy tales, where the prince kisses the princess and they live happily ever after. Only I thought that it didn’t happen to witches. We were the ones at the end of the story thanked then cast off or even slain. But, apparently at the end of this tale, I was getting my happily ever after kiss.

“And.” He said, drawing out the word to thicken his British accent. His eyes twinkled, the brown being interwoven with flecks of gold.

“I.” Kol brought my hands, clutched in his to his chest, forcing me to stand on my toes given my small stature. His head tilts down, so his nose and forehead are just barely touching mine.

“Love.”  The word is savored on his tongue, dancing around it. Slightly, not that I would notice, he leans his head in even further, making the distance between us but a centimeter.

“You.” I’m impatient. I mean so is he normally, but I completely and utterly ruin the sweet, slow moment by jumping up and kissing him. He’s surprised honestly, nearly falling over from the dead weight I had just put on him, my arms hooked behind his head. However, he regained his balance, allowing me to pull myself up further and hooked my legs around his weight.

From his fingertips, a whiz of red spark shot out harmlessly dancing over my hair, as his hand knitted themselves into my already tangled and windswept mess. My hands clutched at his face desperately, making him stumble back, his knees pressing against the lip of the boat. His tongue invaded my mouth, gently probing in there, with my own rushing to meet his. His honey brown eyes went wide in surprise and he somehow loses his usually stoic stance and tips back.

The water is a nice temperature at least, being as we are only a couple hundred feet from the beach, where some of our friends lounged, though I couldn’t tell who it was specifically. I went in first, with Kol to top of me, our lips still locked together. Bubbles flowed up from between us, as we broke the seal of the kiss. Brightly colored fish frantically darted to get out of our way, as Kol carefully unknotted his hands from my hair. Though the water blurred by vision, I could still see the flash of white that meant he was smiling. He tugs on my shoulders, and pulls me to the surface. I gasped for breath, as my head broke the surface, holding onto Kol. The boat, which had been on autopilot, had already pulled away, now pulling into the dock. I glared at Kol.

“Start swimming?” He said, raising his wet eyebrows with a grin.

*Bound By Blood*

**Caroline POV**

Klaus was acting strange. Not his usual strange, but this week it was a bit more… weird.

I mean, he had only tried to kill Esther once the whole time. And ironically, that told me either something was seriously wrong –either this entire Mikael, Silas, and Tyler situation was particularly bad or Klaus had gone insane and had decided not only to _work_ with his mother, but sort of be cordial to her—or he was just in an extremely good mood. And it being Klaus, I assumed the former.

However, I didn’t do anything to stop the train of progress. All of us helped make calls and put together the puzzling movements of the immortal and his accomplices. Though, I snuck off more often than not with Elena and Bonnie to mess around on the beach. Though my “sneaking” was more of a graceful waddle.

The pattern didn’t make any sense. Silas, impersonating Professor Shane, had traveled up in a practically straight line from Baton Rouge, accompanied by Mikael. They left a trail of random bodies in their wake, about thirty in all. And not all of them were human. Werewolves, witches, and even two vampires were dead. But, when they got to Mystic Falls, the deaths stopped as suddenly as they started, as though the town was some sort of barrier.

Klaus had been the first to pick up on what Silas was doing. Being a long study of sacrificial rituals (like the one he had tried to use _me_ for), the pattern, which had started again the moment they left Mystic Falls, headed north. More supernatural blood was spilled. More innocent humans had to die.

And we didn’t know why.

The only good thing—well, the only progress—to come out of any of this, were Kol and Bonnie’s tests run on Silas’s tombstone.

Apparently.

“Hand me the vial.” Bonnie ordered Kol on the other side of the room, a make-shift lab the pair had set up. I looked up from my vigorous, mindless searching on the computer for different prom dresses with Elena leaning over my shoulder and chirping her opinion, as Klaus and Damon talked in various different tongues on the phone, and Elijah and Katherine were putting more of those red dots onto the electronic map. Esther just sat there, patiently writing something into that grimorie titled by Kol “The Book of Hecate.”

The other two Mikaelson siblings were nowhere to be found, as were the two hunters. Finn and Sage had taken the yacht to the mainland, while Rebekah and Stefan had run off about an hour ago. I didn’t want to know what they were doing. Alaric and Jeremy however… Sounds of punches being thrown echoed from the gym below us.

“Which one?” Kol said, looking bewildered at the immense collection while probing the tombstone with some small silver tool. The carbon dating tests at the University of Athens hadn’t gone exactly as they had planned…

“That one.” She said absent mindedly, not even looking up from the microscope. Kol set down the tool, and handed her one at random, full of red dust.

Bonnie took it from him and glanced at it, then her brow furrowed.

“Wrong one, dumbass.” She said, sighing and picking up the correct one, though it was identical to the one Kol had handed her.

“Why are we even doing this?” Kol whined, throwing down the tool as soon as he picked it up. Bonnie glared at him, swirling a chemical into the dust. Klaus shushed him.

“Because those test results can’t be right!” She answered, taking a dropper out and sticking it into the tube. She squeezed it, letting the rusty liquid fill it.

“Why not? We don’t know anything about Silas!” Kol argued. Klaus shushed him again, plugging his other ear not glued to the phone. I watched with interest, shutting the MacBook in my lap. This was the first I was even hearing of what “went wrong” with the tests. Esther smirked, her pen still flying across the page.

“Professor Shane said he was only two thousand years old. So, those tests have to be wrong!” She insisted. Kol rolled his eyes and grabbed a chair, turning it around so he was straddling it.

“Maybe the idiotic professor made a guess. I’ve never known science to be wrong before…” Bonnie glared at him rather pointedly, gesturing around to all of us, who, according to science, shouldn’t even exist. “Alright maybe a bit misguided, but you can’t go wrong with rocks!”

Klaus irritably sighed, and ended his call, and glowered at his brother’s hyperactive noisiness.

“Is that because you have them for brains?” Klaus said irritably, crossing his arms lightly over the white linen shirt he wore with the sleeves rolled up. “How old is it?”

Bonnie gave up on looking through the microscope, as Kol kept tugging that invisible chain between them. She attempted to give him an aneysum several days ago, but since that had failed; she had to be content with glaring daggers at him.

“Two thousand, nine hundred and thirty… ish. At least the blood compound in the stone is anyway.” Kol said, taking the rock off of the stainless steel table and messing with it in his hands. “However,” He stopped moving it, and used one finger to trace the letter “C” in Greece. “This was carved around the birth of Christ, though I’m not actually sure that man ever existed.” He said cheekily.

“Kol.” Esther chastised in a motherly tone not even looking up from the page. Kol rolled his eyes and continued.

“And this is where it gets interesting.” Klaus raised his eyebrows.

“Like it wasn’t extremely riveting as is.” Klaus said sarcastically. I however, was just a bit interested in my there was such a time gap between the two defining things of the tombstone.

“The collection of dirt on this thing… It’s been everywhere.” Kol pointed to the various plastic bags tacked to one of the whiteboards in the room, directly diagonal from the floor to ceiling door spanning the entire wall. “The origins seem to be in the Fertile Crescent, but after that it gets quite sporadic.”

“It’s been as far west as the Pyrenees in the North and Timbuktu in the South.” Bonnie said, tapping a bag of dirt that was the most brown of all of them as she spoke. I hadn’t noticed each was taped onto a faded, yellowing map. “As far south as Alexandria and the Nile.” She ran her finger down the slim blue line in Africa. “As far east as Delhi.”

“And as far to the north as Britannica, not to mention the Germanic tribal areas.” Kol finished, tapping the Originals’ homeland on the map.

“Then it just stops until someone” Bonnie says. When she says someone, Kol coughs “Shane” none too discreetly. She gives him a look and continues. “picked it out of the ground in Iceland.”

“Why in the hell was it there?” Damon said, after getting off the phone with a highly irritable expression on his face. He flopped down next to Elena, who had since moved away from her place at my shoulder.

“Well…” Kol said, rolling out yet another map, this one ever old than the one pinned up on the wall. The labels on it weren’t in English, but rather in Latin. “We know for sure where Silas was buried.” He started placing a red pin on a miniscule island off of Nova Scotia. “which we know by the technology of the times, the journey would have only been made possible by the Vikings.” Klaus and Kol cynically smile at the mention of the word “Viking.”

“They had had semi-permanent settlements on the eastern coast of Canada, as well as a permanent settlement in Iceland.” Bonnie said making more marks on the thin map. “Which was supplied from the heart of Viking world, Scandinavia.” She tapped the ten bags of dirt in the area. Kol spread his arms and grinned widely, looking extreme pleased with himself.

Bonne still looked skeptically at the maps.

“I still think those test results are wrong.” She insisted. Esther finally pulled herself away from the riveting book.

“Kol.” She said walking over to the table and heaving the large leather bound book onto the metal table with a resounding clang. “Who are the authors of this book?”

Kol gave her a “are you kidding me?” look. He reached his body over the table and pulled the book towards him. He opened to the front cover and ran his hand down the list of names.

“Cassandra, Circe, Medea, Quetsiah, Merlin, Morgan Le Fay, Ayanna Bennett and…”  Esther interrupted him, a plotting smile on her face.

“Now how does a book in Greece make its way to the British Isles?” Kol smiles devilishly. “Unless someone facilitated its movements.”

Bonnie scowled.

“Well would you care to share how exactly Silas lived for about a thousand years? According to the legend the Professor told us, he was trying to _create_ an immortality spell.”

Esther smiled, taking the book back from her youngest son and flipping through the pages, coming to a stop at a set of symbols that I supposed translated to Quetsiah. Fuzzily, I recalled Kol and Bonnie having a heated argument about a collection of missing pages in this section.

“I’m not sure what exactly the purpose of his immortality was…” She said, running her fingers down the jagged rip. “But I believe he—and Quetsiah were made immortal long ago.”

Klaus scoffed.

“Is that where you got the idea for making us, in your words, _monsters?_ ” He said with bitterness.

Esther looked at him, her stone grey eyes a touch sad, though still full of ironclad resilience and intelligence.

“Everything was created with a purpose.” She said philosophically. Elijah looked up confused from his work where he had been multitasking, both working on finding Mikael, his nightly routine, and raptly listening to our conversation.

“Then what was ours?” Kol asked quietly. He took the book back from his mother, and flipped through the pages, stopping on Esther’s section.

“Inhumanity out of humanity.” She said, reading her own writing in Old English.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Damon drawled, grabbing a bottle of wine from the coffee table.

Esther coldly stared at the dark haired vampire.

“What those wolves did to my son was unforgivable.” She said haughtily. “Though lycanthropy was created by a witch, that sort of deep blood magic could not be undone. My children, however, were fitting rivals for the animalistic men. As a reminder.”

“And what was that witch’s glorious purpose for making life hell every turn of the moon?” Klaus said, slightly sarcastically, though it was just a cover for his slightly injured psyche.

“There’s always something to fear. Most of the time, it’s yourself.” She said hollowly. Klaus’s blue eyes go dangerously dark, the blue of the evening sky.

Bonnie went back to peering through the microscope and typing into the computer, completely ignoring the stifling silence of the room.

Slowly, I reopened my laptop, going back to my vigorous scrolling and Elena slipped back behind me. Klaus stared out at the dark night. Elijah tapped away on the computer. Damon drank. Esther went back to reading. Kol scribbled notes on pieces of paper examining the maps.

“Hey Kol?” Bonnie said, looking at the screen with a befuddled frown on her red lips. “Look at this.” He came around the table and stared intently at the computer screen for several seconds.

“All of these match?” He groaned. Bonnie nodded. He quickly snatched a piece of paper and started scribbling away. From my seat, I peered at his messy handwriting.

Temple of Apollo at Delphi

Marathon

Olympia

Temple of Hecate

“How long is this going to take?” Bonnie whined, shutting the laptop and looking again at the map, putting yellow dots at each of the place written on the paper.

“Two maybe three days.” He says, stumbling towards the stairs. Klaus glared at him.

“Where do you think you’re going?” He said, returning to the control board on the other side of the room and standing over Elijah’s shoulder.

“Bed.” Kol responded, the “duh” dripping from his voice.

“Ummmm… No you’re not.” Klaus said.

“Why not, _father?_ ” Kol says sarcastically stomping down the stairs.

“Because our Father is in Europe.” Elijah said, staring at the screen, his eyes widened. Klaus’s eyes narrow and Kol trudged back to stare at the computer screen. I shut my own as Bonnie plopped down next to me. Esther looked slightly alarmed though she didn’t stick her nose out of the book. “London, to be specific.”

“What do you want to do about it?” Kol asked.

Klaus pulled up a rolling chair to sit in, pressing his fingertips to his lips.

“How much do you think he knows?” He asked, without an ounce of emotion.

“Anything Silas has told him.” Esther said nonchalantly.

“So he doesn’t know any of the allegiance changes.” Klaus said. Kol grinned devilishly, getting the gist of his brother’s plan.

“You’re going to send Finn.” Elijah said. Klaus nods. “You know it’s not going to work.” Elijah said, getting up and pulling Katherine towards the stairs. Clearly the stuffy Original was done with doing most of the leg work.

“Why won’t it?” Klaus asked. “Finn has sided with Mikael in the past. That’s why I daggered him in the first place.”

“How do you know Finn isn’t going to turn on us…” Elijah said. “Like before.” He glanced sideways at Esther.

“Love makes all of you fools.” Esther said, slamming the book shut and walking out of the room. Klaus, Kol, and Elijah’s mouths drop open in shock, before twisting into an offended frown.

“It’s true you know.” Katherine said, pulling Elijah along. On his retreating back, a piece of paper was stuck on it, in a familiar handwriting.

KICK ME I’M A LOVESICK WIMP WHO HAS A THING FOR DOPPLEBANGERS

Everyone sniggered, Klaus and Kol—most likely the culprit for the prank—bursting out laughing. Elijah turned around, a confused look wrinkling his eyebrows.  The two brothers went silent until he turns back around, and then quietly continued laughing.

“Who else is with him?” Damon asked, frowning at his glass of bourbon. Klaus beaconed for him to come over, and look at the computer. Damon didn’t move.  Klaus lets out a frustrated sigh, and turned the screen around.

A fuzzy image occupied it, with a circular arrow indicting the “play” button. Kol tapped the button and the tape rolled.

I could barely make out the figures the video seemed to be focusing on, the shot being taken from some distance. There was no sound, though the large amount of people with luggage suggested they were at an airport of some kind.

A tall man, who inherently knew to be the patriarch of the Mikaelson family, spoke with the much shorter Professor Shane/Silas, who carried himself with an easy power. A third man lagged behind, his face masked by the crowd. A car was idling at the curb, seeming to be their direction and as Silas put his hand on the door it swung open, to reveal an old friend.

Tyler was dressed the same as ever, in an old sports hoodie, jeans, and a t-shirt, though he wore a pair of Oakley’s in the cloudy weather. He didn’t smile at the two ancient men, though as the third appeared his face broke into a youthful grin, wrapping his arms around the man. As they broke apart and got into the car, I got the first shot of the third man’s face. He nodded at the camera, almost knowingly, and slide into the car. The video cut.

“Mason.” Damon growled and his eyes darkened.

“So now our mystery man has a name.” Klaus said, spinning in the chair. “Who is he?”

“A douchebag werewolf who worships Katherine.” Damon spat, downing the rest of his alcohol and systematically refilling it. “But, I killed him. And he helped us learn to kill you.” Damon said, thoroughly confused. Klaus raised one eyebrow.

“Now why would he be working with Silas now?” Klaus said in a teasing tone, as if stating the obvious.

Damon’s eyes stayed clouded as I realized what exactly happened.

“That’s why Tyler is working for Silas. They made a deal.” I said quietly. “Looks like I get a chance to kick his ass again.” I tried to pass it off as a joke. However, no one found it funny.

Who knows who else Silas had brought back? How many times had all of us nearly died, not even at the hands of the Mikaelson family?

I retreated to my room immediately after. I couldn’t help feeling scared. I was a _baby_ vampire for goodness sakes! What I had done to Mason had been, at the time, a lucky break. I doubt I could do it again. In a split second decision of just needing her, I picked up the phone and type in the familiar digits of my home, hoping to catch my mom with the time difference.

Luckily, I do.

“Caroline!” My mother’s uncommonly bright voice permeated my ear. “Did Bonnie talk to her father? The mayor has been harassing me for the past six weeks.”

“I… I think so.” I said, moving my shoulder up to my ear so it could hold the phone in place as I undressed. Clothes were just getting more and more uncomfortable. From behind me, the door creaked open and Klaus walked in, already tiredly stripping down as he made his way to the shower.

“I’m not answering the phone to talk about Bonnie.” My mom said, partly to herself. “How are you doing?”

I slipped my dress off and threw it in the hamper, leaving only my bra and panties on to put on around the room, picking up the scattered pieces of Klaus’s clothes.

“Fine.” I answered. I could almost hear my mother frown.

“Really Caroline? I know you want to complain.”

I giggled, honestly surprised at how well Sheriff Elizabeth Forbes knew me.

“Well, Mom…” I started from the start and went down. “I vomit my insides out every morning, I’m the size of a whale, my back aches, my boobs have grown two cup sizes and are as sore as hell, my feet are as swollen and my stomach and hurt about twice as much, I have stretch marks everywhere.” I stopped, frowning as I heard the shower start running. “And I’m horny 24/7.” I finished in a whisper.

My mother laughed, a rich sound that had seemed to stop in my memories around age 8.

“I’m not surprised. Are you doing anything to fix it?” She asked, in a rather accusing manner.

“No no no. I mean, we’re all living together so it’s sort of hard to do _that_ without everyone knowing.” I quickly reassure her, though she doesn’t seem convinced. I reached back and fiddled with the clasp of my bra, eventually getting it undone and pulling it off. With one hand, I gently massaged the right one while I use the other to rid myself of those tiny white scraps of lace I liked to think were panties.

“You better keep it that way.” She said sternly, though my thoughts went somewhere else as I remembered Klaus. In the shower. Naked.

Like it usually happened, hormones hit me in waves. I started to contemplate joining Klaus in the shower, but shook my head. I was literally going against what my mother just said. I tried hard to concentrate on my mother’s daily dish of town gossip which once had been my lifeblood, but that nagging want kept persistently bubbling to the surface. After about another five minutes, I heard the squeak of the taps as the water shut off.

“Bye, Mom, gotta go, Love you!” I said rather hastily, not even leaving her a chance to respond before pressing the “end call” button and tossing the phone onto the side table. Klaus emerged from the bathroom stark naked, only to be ambushed by my lips. I hungrily pressed against him, skin on skin, with my eyes fluttering between closed and not. Klaus however is a bit stunned, his eyes the color of the sky before lightning strikes and his mouth is frozen against mine.

He doesn’t respond for quite a few seconds, his face slack as I push my tongue inside of his mouth. Though as I started to take more and more control, i.e. slamming him down onto the bed and straddling him, the deer in the headlights look leaves his eyes to be replaced with something… wolfish… something… hungry.

With a growl, his eyes turned navy as he reached his hands up and in one smooth motion flipped our positions, so he was on top, his arms pinned my own and his wooden necklace swung down so they just barely touched the slightly dip between my breast.

In a dive, he unpinned my arms and attacked my neck, ever so slowly penetrating me. Using his human teeth, he nipped at my collarbone as I gasped.

“Klaus.” I groaned, as his fangs popped out and ran over my skin, never actually breaking it. He grinned with satisfaction as I raked my long fingernails over his back. Without even noticing it that much, partly due to his ministration of my neck, slowly he had penetrated into me, then making himself known with a defiant thrust. I gasped, not only feeling the shock of pure pleasure, but also the jolting sensation of the baby’s kicks.

I’m snapped out of the mood as soon as I had fallen into it, pushing Klaus off of me.

“What?” He spat, his cock still erect from where I had just forcibly pushed it out of me.

I pushed myself into a sitting position, running my hand over my stomach as the child began to kick harder and harder, causing me to wince.

“The baby…” I said, popping up out of bed to go over to the closet, stopping once in the middle of the room to gasp. “was not in the mood.”

Klaus grumbled, and stalked off to the bathroom, most likely to finish himself off. I pulled out a pair of panties and one of Klaus’s old button down, and slipped it over my head before retreating to bed. After a few minutes of flipping through the latest edition of Mother and Child, I tossed it aside to look at my own child.

“You just don’t want Mommy and Daddy to have any fun do you?” I said to my son. He somersaults in response. “Anyways, I know that you’re going to be here soon, and we can’t call you the baby forever… Daddy and I just need to decide on a name.”

I started, embarrassed, as I hear a familiar chuckle at the door. I turn red as Klaus, clad in blue boxers, strides towards me and joined me on the right side of the bed.

“You know… Damon might be right about that temporary insanity.” He said, reaching over and turning of the light. I huffed.

“Damon is never right. However, I am always right.” I insisted. He laughed a rich baritone that echoed off of the cozy dome.

“Well, it’s true! Our son needs a name.”

“It would be a lot easier if you and Rebekah didn’t keep throwing fifty thousand names at me. I can only do so much.”

He was quiet for a moment.

“That’s the first time you’ve referred to me as Daddy.” He said, putting his arms behind his head.

“Well that is what you are.” I said rather pointedly.

“It just seems… different.” He said, for lack of better words. I giggled and curl up into his chest.

“So what do you want to call him right now?”

“Klaus Jr.” He said sarcastically. My eyes begin to droop and his breathing becomes deeper, steadier, I crack open my eyes to cradle my stomach.

“I promise I won’t let Daddy name you that.” I whispered, before falling asleep.

 

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	31. Home Isn't Where the Heart Is

**Hello everyone!**

**Thank you, thank you, thank you each and every one of my loyal readers, those who follow, favorite, and review my story. It makes my whole day.**

**Again thank you to my fabulous betas, StarJade101, and, xAlltheDevilsAreHerex , on fanfiction.net along with my good friends halingderek and klaroline-heaven on tumblr.**

**I have also decided, though this has been in the works for nearly two months now, there will be a sequel to this story, tentatively titled “Strange Things Stir.” I hope all you like this story enough to read it.**

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**Thank you all so much and enjoy!**

**-xoxo Katarhyne**

Bound By Blood

**Chapter XXXI: Home isn’t where the Heart is**

**_15-17 weeks_ **

_First time he kissed me, he but only kissed_

_The fingers of this hand wherewith I write,_

_And ever since it grew more clean and white,..._

_Slow to world-greetings...quick with its “Oh, list,”_

_When the angels speak. A ring of amethyst_

_I could not wear here plainer to my sight,_

_Than that first kiss. The second passed in height_

_The first, and sought the forehead, and half missed,_

_Half falling on the hair. O beyond meed!_

_That was the chrism of love, which love’s own crown,_

_With sanctifying sweetness, did precede._

_The third, upon my lips, was folded down_

_In perfect, purple state! since when, indeed,_

_I have been proud and said, “My Love, my own.”_

_-Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Sonnets from the Portuguese 38: First time he kissed me_

**Bonnie POV**

“No, no, and no!” I said angrily, slashing through Temple of Apollo at Delphi, Marathon, and Olympia on my list with vengeance and a red pen.  For the last two days, Kol and I had been running around Greece willy-nilly only to find each and every one of these stupid temples to be a bust. I prayed that this last one wouldn’t be.

Oddly enough, the Temple of Hecate wasn’t even in Greece. Rather in Turkey, the Temple laid on the coast.

I was frustrated beyond belief. I put my head down on the desk below decks, dark spots coming over eyes from lack of sleep.  I from in front on me, next to the shiny silver laptop, I grab the half-full pack of sage cigarettes, that I had been smoking constantly for the past three days, and lit one, pushing it against my lips. Through the porthole, the sun was setting.

Above my head, I could hear the soft creaking of wood as Kol moved around, maneuvering the yacht through the treacherously rocky waters.

The leather bag laid on the desk, the contents spilled out onto the table. The tombstone was lopsided, lying on top of the Book of Hecate, and the various jars of herbs tumbled on top of each other.

I was restless. Everything _had_ to be right. The contact point _had_ to be there. I _had_ to talk to Quetsiah. And I _had_ to fix this.

Frustrated, I took out another cigarette as fire consumed the one in my mouth and headed for the stairs. Near the dark set of steps, a mirror hung and I smiled at myself. Garbed in a black blouse and jeans, the Bennett talisman provided the only source of color on me, other than the shockingly red lips I had taken to as  of late, I took one quick look at myself before stomping up the stairs.

Kol was just as antsy as I was, already working his way through a pack of cigarettes and working on a second, though he was still focused as he gently moved the large captain’s wheel to steer around the rocks. When we had visited Marathon, an emissary of Kol’s “dealer” had just shown up out of the blue with a full crate of the herbal sticks. I hadn’t necessarily trusted him, even Kol was a tad wary, but it _was_ a transaction after all.

“How far away are we?” I asked, leaning against the rail. The wind blew my hair over my face in a half curly and half straightened mess.

“Ten minutes.” He answered, pulling the wheel hard to the left, to avoid a large jagged rock.

I traipsed back down the stairs and start shoving things in my bag. I kicked off the black flip flops I had just been walking around in and replaced them with a pair of black riding boots that came up to my knees. Zipped up and dressed all in dark clothing, I looked pretty badass.

_Thump!_

“Ouch!” I muttered, losing my balance and falling to the floor right on my butt. The roar of the motor dulled to a soft hum, before stopping all together. Kol stomped down the stairs, his dark clothing complementing mine. His only adornment, however, was wooden, the coyote talisman he showed me forever ago. With a chivalrous smile, he offered me his hand. I scowled and helped myself up.

“Ready to go sweetheart?” He said, taking the bag from me. I let him, though I didn’t take the arm he was offering me.

The yacht was pulled up against a cliff, tied to a small dock on the side and stairs carved into the rock. I could see why Kol had told me to wear boots. The stone steps were covered in moss and slime.

I huffed and stepped out onto the semi-rotting wood of the dock, followed by an eager, bright eyed Kol. The sun was just setting behind us, an orangey and purple stain in the western sky. Of course, Kol already up half of the stairs and… then he slipped. A classic animated slip, one where his foot catches something and he falls back flat on his back. I laughed, and walked up the stairs slower than he had.

A piece of moss was stuck on his back, and slime was stuck on the shoulders of his jacket. I wrinkled my nose at the stench, as Kol strips off the jacket and throws it past me, with vampire strength and agility, letting it land right on the dock.

“Show off.” I muttered. He turned around and gave me a flash of white teeth. I nervously played with the green stones on my necklace as we climbed to the stone ruins at the top.

The Temple of Hecate had once been grand. Doric columns stood around the floor of delicately organized stones, some cut in half, though a few were still fully standing. A white marble altar stood in the center, though it was cracked in half, the left half diagonally lying on the ground. Kol treaded over to it cautiously, avoiding where some of the floor stones have been worn away. I followed him, mimicking his path.

Kol grunted as he picked up the megalith and placed it in its rightful place next to its other half, then using his finger to “sew” the pieces of marble together again. I took the bag from its forgotten place on the ground beside the stone and Kol dusted his hands off, causing white dust to rise up into the quickly darkening sky. I kneeled in front of it, the white dust getting on my knees and began to unpack. Kol helped too, turning the book to the correct page, lightening the candles once they are all in place, and burning the sage in each. I held the stone in my hand and glanced at the spell. It was only three lines of phonetic Aramaic, very simple, though the ink that it’s written in is crimson, as though it is—was human blood. I realized what I had to do, taking out a knife from the bag, that glowed in the moonlight, and slitting my wrist, letting my blood drip on the altar.

_AeNoA OaG,EoY D'LeH AaK,ZNoA OB,aD'MoA QuEt’si’ah_

The lines flowed off my tongue, sounding like a mental patient. Kol sniggered at some of the patterns of pronunciations. The calcified blood in the rock started running through my finger and dripping onto the altar on top of my own. It sizzled as it flowed.

_B'aD,RuOKH B'aD,LoA OKHaMSeN B'MaP'aQ_

Though I prevailed, stuttering through it, blood fell into my mouth from my nose. Kol looked increasingly alarmed at the pool of blood on the marble. I closed my eyes, my head feeling light and finish the spell.

_SiLaS AeQuOM_

The candles went out. I shuddered, falling to my knees, and opened my eyes. Through the pitch black night, the only light came from the… aura round the woman sitting on the altar.

She looked as corporal as anyone else, her legs swinging back and forth under the marble table. She was short, like me, with skin two or three shades lighter than my own. Freckles on her identical nose added personality to her serious face. Her eyes however, were pure gold and her hair was a mess of pretty tightly spun black curls. Her head was cocked sideways a bit as she peered at me curiously.

“So… Silas is awake, I take it.” She said. Her English was archaic sounding, with a light Middle Eastern lilt, with a slight hiss on the s. “And you are the latest of my bloodline?” I nodded and she hopped down from the altar. Kol couldn’t move, though I could feel his eyes boring into me.

My ancestor stood in front of me, and put her hand on my face.

“Hello Bonnie.” She said, smiling sadly, though kindly down at me. “You’re in quite a mess aren’t you? And you!” She said, turning to Kol. She waved her hand and he immediately unfroze.

“Me.” He responded, in his normal challenging tone.  She glared at him, and he carefully steps towards me, eventually coming to crouch beside me, his arms around me.

“I hope I ruled the right decision on your case, le Fay. I hope you have more hope than your ancestor.” She said, rather darkly. I looked up confused at Kol, his eyebrows knit together.

“My name is Mikaelson. Kol. Mikaelson.” He corrected. The witch laughed.

“You really don’t know do you? In a thousand years you never figured it out on your own? Granted you weren’t what you are now, but still….”

“Could you stop playing games with me? Who in the hell are you talking about?!?” Kol said, removing his warm arms from around my shoulders and standing up, fists on his sides.

“To witches, you aren’t referred to as your last name. It’s your line. And while Bonnie’s can still be Bennett. You are of the line of Morgan le Fay.” She said matter-of-factly, walking over to Kol and putting her hand on his arm as she had done with me. He looked at her with surprise, jerking his arm away. “More specifically from her non-magical sister…” Kol raised his eyebrows, recognizing the name. As did I.

Morgan le Fay? Are you kidding me? Beforehand, I doubted that she even existed. Part of the legend of King Arthur…. I guess that the Mikaelson’s had their share of extremely powerful ancestors, for Esther to have drawn upon that magic to create vampires.

“And not through the infamous warlock she bore either.”

“I guess that’s why not all of my siblings had my fabulous powers.” Kol joked shakily.

“Though I am not here to reveal family history. _What_ has Silas been doing?” She said, crossing her arms.

“Killing. Murdering anyone he can get his hands on.” I said bitterly. Quetsiah breathed in sharply, a function I doubted ghosts needed.

“ _How many?”_ She gritted her teeth; her golden eyes alight with fiery anger. The aura around her took on a red haze.

“Thirty in all. And not all of them were human. Werewolves, witches, and even two vampires.” I relayed, though Kol cut in.

“It’s up to forty two now.” He corrected. “They just slaughtered a coven in Plymouth.” I looked disgusted at him.

Quetsiah sighed, her metallic eyes distant. She started ticking things off on her fingers.

“The doppelganger is dead correct?”

“She’s a vampire. They both are.” I corrected. I looked up at Kol confused, but he’s too busy trying to work something out in his head. In his effort, he started flipping through the book of Hecate.

“And he’s risen now…” She muttered to herself. “Did anyone bring the veil down?” She asked, increasingly alarmed. I’m increasingly confused. All these things… _We_ had done them. What have _we_ done to screw up so badly?

“Ummm…. We sort of kind of did.” I said sheepishly staring at my feet. Her gaze seared into my skull.

“How. Many. Did. You. Bring. Back?” She enunciated.

“Only five!” I bursted, hoping to redeem myself. They had been necessary!

“And Silas brought back two.” Kol said under his breath. I glared at him and Quetsiah looked more and more concerned.

“He’s almost done…” She said under her breath, before sitting on the altar and looking at me. She was scared. Whatever we had done… It was bad. Very. Bad.

“Listen to me.” She said, forcing me to stare at her. “You have to kill him. Before he undoes everything.”

“What is he undoing? I thought he created the immortality spell to begin with!” I shrieked, not giving up on my early theory that test results were wrong. She shook her head.

“The legend you were told was wrong. Silas and I lived for nine hundred years peacefully… Until _she_ came along and ruined everything.” She said, malice filling her voice about Silas’s one true love.

“But…..” I started. She looked at me, tears in her eyes. I guess after almost three millennia… She still loved him. “Why?” I finished meekly.

Her image flickered and then came back into focus.

“We became immortal for a reason. To keep some….. things locked away. If he finishes those murders, _before_ you can kill him…. Everything _we…._ ” She started getting choked up again. “accomplished will be undone.”

“Here.” She said, tapping the area next to her on the marble. On it, it began to open, exposing a hidden compartment. “I call it my emergency manual. It should tell you what to do…” I picked it up and immediately felt the scent of magic radiating off of it. “in any circumstance. Even if the worst happens. I can contact you through here, if need be.” She returned to the place in which she had appeared; the pool of blood.

“What is the worst?!??” I yell. She looked sadly at me, peering through the curls cascading over her eyes.

“Let’s hope you never have to know. But you’ll live for a limitless amount of time… I suppose a cage doesn’t last forever.” And with those haunting, hollow words, she was gone in a breeze and the area went dark save for the light of the moon. Kol’s feet scuffed a little as he walked over to where I stood next to the pool of blood and in front of the compartment. Inside of it laid a leather bound book, similar to the Book of Hecate though this one was as used as the old grimorie. Its cover was wrinkled beyond belief while the pages were a dusty yellow. I coughed heavily as I reached my hand in disturbing the dust and pulled it out brushing away spider webs and blowing away two thousand years of sleep.

I opened it and then wrinkled my nose.

“It’s empty.” Kol remarked as I frantically flipped the pages. I turned back to the first page.

“Maybe we have to do something else.” I said, running my hand over the page. Then, all of a sudden, I started to feel a burning sensation wherever I touched the page. I yelped, jerking my hand back and watch, mesmerized, as the pages begin to fill with gold, glowing script.

“I assume that you touching it accounted as something.” Kol said, as I picked the book back up and began to read. It was, thank God, in English. I read the first few lines, and smiled extremely satisfied, before closing it and shoving it into my bag along with the tombstone and the Book of Hecate.

“What does it say?” Kol said as I pawned off the bag to him and carefully headed down the stone steps.

“It tells us how to kill Silas.” I said, turning around with a Cheshire Cat grin. “For good.”

His grin was just as wide as mine.

*Bound By Blood*

**Caroline POV**

“Klaus? KLAUS!” I yelled from the billionth, stomping up the stairs, and sand clinging to my toes. I angrily tied the white linen wrap over my hips and rolled it down a bit, because there was no way in hell that it would ever fit over my expanding stomach. I then stormed into the room and of course, he’s just there ignoring me.

Well not entirely. And he’s not alone either.

“Caroline!” Klaus yelped, slamming the sketchbook he had been holding out to Elijah. The elder Original instantly took the book away from his brother and held it behind his back, standing up quickly.

I raised one eyebrow suspiciously and I cautiously teetered on my feet, at the top of the steps.

“What are you two doing?” I asked, putting my hands on my widening hips.

“Nothing.” They said in unison. I raised my other eyebrow, and leaned to the left attempting to get a good look at the notebook Elijah was so poorly hiding behind his back. He fumbled with it for a second, trying to reposition it and dropped it, only to have Klaus speedily cover it with his foot.

“What are you hiding?” I asked, walking over and trying to bend down to dislodge the book out from under Klaus’s foot. He presses down firmly, refusing to let me pull it up. I looked up at him, my eyebrows quirked. He and Elijah look downright… panicked, at the thought of me seeing whatever was in that book.

He bent down; keeping his foot planted on the book and looked me in the eyes. As he did that, his navy blues piercing into my own cornflower eyes, he slipped it out from under his shoe and handed it to Elijah who dashed out of the room.

“What did you need me for love?” He said with his usual charming self. I glared at him. My vision became fuzzy for a second so I put my hand to my head, the other going on his shoulder to steady myself.

“Are you planning to kill someone?” I asked, glaring at him, my clarity of sight returning.

“No…” He answered, confused, looking at me with those big glassy eyes and wrinkly concerned forehead.

“Then why are you trying to so desperately hide that sketch book?” I asked, boring into his eyes. He looked down at his flip flops.

“Why were you calling me again?” He asked, tactfully avoiding the question at hand. I rolled my eyes with a sigh. When he was like this, it was like prying open a dead clam. I’d have to see that book for myself later.

“Dinner’s ready.” I told him, getting up and brushing myself off, before dragging him with me down the stairs. “Now, I know you hate these group dinners…” I began, my voice echoing off the hall. “But tonight was supposed to be our last night,”

“Only if Bonnie and my brother succeed.” He corrected his grip tight on my hand. I stomped through the kitchen, the smells of dinner already wafting through the open doors and down from the beach.

“Anyways, you are interacting with your family.” I concluded, forcibly pulling him down the steps. I didn’t stumble this time, a habit I had taken to this week, another one of those unpleasant developments that had come along with the beach ball under my skin.

“They,” He said, pointing at the non-Mikaelsons, “Are not family.”

“But they are to me.” I said, very practically before running off to check on Damon, who was probably breaking the grill. I just decided that Klaus didn’t get a say in that particular issue. Or maybe that was just my general feeling of “bad health” making me feel pissy.

“So you finally got artsy down here.” Damon said, viciously poking a hunk of lamb with a fork. Elena stood beside him, giving him “back-seat” cooking instructions, since the elder Salvatore had insisted the grill was a man’s work.

“By force.” I joked, snatching a fork from the plate and taking a quick bite. “Two more minutes, Damon. He’s acting suspicious.” Surprisingly, it was actually decent. Then again, anything and everything was good lately. The other night I had mixed blood with cupcake icing!

“What do you mean by suspicious?” Elena asked, with her typical “mother hen” concern. She of course, didn’t look like a beached whale like me in a bikini. She looked like model in white.

“Like I’m planning to murder someone suspicious or I’m planning a surprise for Caroline suspicious?” Damon asked, pushing his black shades up on his head to squint through the smoke. I looked at Klaus, who was sneaking up onto the sun bathing Rebekah with a bucket of sea water. His mother watched from a distance, a small sad smile on her face while she held The Devil Wears Prada in her other hand. It sort of surprised me that the Original Witch, who could still be plotting our deaths, read ‘mom’ novels.

“I’m planning a surprise for Caroline suspicious.” I said, disgruntled. Damon grinned impishly.

“Maybe he’s figuring out how to propose.” He said in a teasing dreamy voice. I smacked him. “You know Elijah’s the king of sappy. He was probably writing it for him.”

The said original glared at Damon from the top of the stairs.

“No. No. No way Damon.” I insisted, glancing back at Klaus, who was now running from the chilled and soaked Rebekah. “No. He’s not like that.”

“Come on Barbie! How does the rhyme go? First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby carriage? He got it a little mixed up, but there’s still time to fix it…” Elena laughed. I glared at her.

“That’s not him!” I persisted, stomping my right foot peevishly. I nearly tipped over in the process, so I steady myself on the back of one of the chairs. Then, an idea came to me. “And are you sure you’re just not playing out your own fantasies, _Damon?”_  The dark haired vampire suddenly went a tad white, and avoided Elena’s fervently hopeful glance at him.

“No.” He said, a bit more forcefully than needed. “I haven’t even gotten to the expensive gifts and actual dates and flowers…” He was rambling now, and stabbing the meat. We all knew Elena was the vampire in the group most likely to want the “white picket fence, dog, and 2.5 kids.” And all of us knew that Damon had almost as many Daddy problems as Klaus.

I grinned mischievously as Damon kept stuttering out excuses, as Klaus trudged towards me, soaking wet with an angry red slap mark of his cheek, courtesy of Rebekah.

“Why are you letting the meat burn Salvatore? And what are you making pathetic excuses about?” He said, highly irritable. Damon’s face turned red and ignored Klaus, going back to his original listing of reasons why it’s too early to get married.

“Not to mention you haven’t even finished high school yet!” Damon said, partly to himself. Elena crossed her arms.

“Caroline’s still in high school.” She said, decoded as “Caroline’s getting engaged in high school.” I rolled my eyes and looked at Klaus. His blue eyes went wide and panicky, then narrow to glare daggers at Damon.

“But _Caroline’s_ knocked up.” Damon insisted. “And you dated my brother for forever. It’s common courtesy to Stefan. Ask me in a decade. We’ll be practically at married couple level anyways.”

“Why are we talking about _marriage?”_  Klaus said; the word sour in his mouth.

“Because isn’t Forbes going to be Mikaelson pretty soon?” Damon grinned. “Oh this is done.” He said, stabbing the hunks of meat and putting them on a plate. Klaus took it from the side of the grill and nearly ran off towards the table.

Ok, now he’s acting weird. He’s avoiding that question. But… Marriage isn’t very Klaus.

Is it?

*Bound By Blood*

**Klaus POV**

Damon fucks everything up. Seriously?  It took forever for Elijah to even convince me to start designing the ring. And then Caroline barged in and nearly saw it. And then Damon just hit it right on the nose what I was doing.

Dinner was never pleasant with our group of supernatural creatures. Arguments broke out, old betrayals, flings, and fights were brought up, yet somehow I managed to stay above the fray.

After it, I tried to escape back upstairs, but Caroline and my demonic sister dragged me off look at _paint_ colors, for the child’s room. Which was really just them talking at me about the “forest” and “wolf” theme and ordering fifty thousand toys. The only one I even chose was a large stuffed wolf.

Caroline was not well, though she didn’t dare admit it. I could just tell but her actions, small ones, like her almost constantly swaying on her feet, her pale color, and often clutching of her head. I didn’t say anything; though I cast her enough worried looks to make her snap at me.

Kol and Bonnie came in long after dark, parking _my_ yacht _sideways_ no less. When I had yelled at him to go move it, the idiot had just given me a shit eating grin and told me, “We’ll need it in the morning.” Though as soon as they came in, Sage and Finn quickly left to the city, to catch a ride on a regular airline for England.

Bonnie had given them amulets, to resist Silas’s powers, whatever they might be, to wear under their clothes, and from my large network of agents who were tracking the group, a bug. Masterman would be meeting them at Heathrow to brief them. Finn hadn’t always been the best at keeping secrets. After they left, I found Caroline asleep on the beach, just a little past the shore line.  She had been a mess this whole week and not all of that was just attributed to her obvious illness. Falling asleep all over the place, general horniness (not that I minded), and eating. Like those odd habits of wanting to have ice cream and blood at 3 AM.

So that’s why I had packed _Caroline’s_ bags, as well as my own. And wash her off. And put her to bed. And get her up at 4 AM for the short voyage to the Athens airport. However, her condition didn’t stop her from video chatting Rebekah’s shopper in Washington DC for eight hours on the flight home who was looking for their prom dresses for them, along with the other girls, while the rest of us attempted and failed to sleep. I just resorted to ear plugs, though they didn’t exactly block out everything. I could still hear the classic reassurances on colors, sizes, and styles. Apparently, Caroline had spent a good 3 hours on her so she didn’t look like “a colored blimp.” Her words, not mine.

At some time, I must have fallen asleep, only after I had finished the sketches of the ring. I had been stupid the first time, yesterday, when discussing it with Elijah out in the open, where Caroline could see, but at least today when my eyelids began to droop, I had the sense to stow it in my briefcase.

It was simple to a degree, though it had a classic timelessness about it I tried for in all my art. The rectangular diamond, triangular at the top, sat on a silver band. The diamond in question had come from the vault in Switzerland, though I had acquired the raw jewel some years ago, from a trader in India during the fourteenth century. He had told me to “save it for something special.” I guessed Caroline is the only “special” thing in my life.  The band was the most special part about it.

I had heard the stories, about how Caroline hadn’t even gotten to choose her daylight ring. And I knew that she still didn’t even really like it. So, that’s the reason why her wedding ring would double as her daylight ring, from the small lapis lazulis on the band.

I hoped she loved it.

The next morning, still in that claustrophobic airplane cabin, I found Caroline practically on top of me, fast asleep, her breath slightly labored, with her phone clutched in her hand, buzzing. Gently, I pried her delicate, thin fingers from the phone and look at the messages.

Two from her mother and one from…. Tyler?

Oh shit.

I read Tyler’s message first.

_Still trying to pretend you’re still normal? Win Prom Queen with a bastard poking out of your stomach?_

_Go to Prom and see how pretty that crown looks on a severed head._

_Lockwood._

I quickly forward the text to my own phone and delete it from hers, leaving the two messages from her mother unread.

I couldn’t just tell her about this cold hearted threat to her life. But, at the same time, there was no way she wasn’t going to prom without a good excuse. I was between a rock and a hard place.

She wasn’t going to be alone, at least. I am her date, for god’s sake, and there is no way in hell I am letting her out of my sight the whole night. If that failed, my brother would be there with Bonnie, Rebekah with Stefan, and _Damon_ , with Elena. A full house of supernatural creatures, which could bring the wrath of God down on Tyler Lockwood and anyone who decided to help him if they tried anything.

Just, please, don’t let Mikael be there. As much as Tyler—and I assumed his uncle, the orphan was probably very attached to the man—are fire, Mikael and Silas are ice. I can predict where fire can spread. It’s hot, damaging, and quick, but like all things that burn bright, it dies quick. Ice… is made for waiting. You can plan, wait, for the right moment, and always win.

When I had killed Mikael, I thought my days of fear were over. When I turned into a hybrid, I thought I could finally have peace.

But, the moment I became a hybrid, my days of obsession became… empty. Maybe that’s why for the last thousand years, I didn’t love a single person. Then, came the feeling so foreign, it had resulted in the biggest fear of my life. Love. I wasn’t positive that if I had met Caroline any time I was just a regular vampire I would have loved her. But, now…. I would do anything for her. That’s what they say love is. And that love, no matter how it has filled a thousand years of hatred, fear, and emptiness, has let me have no peace. Or maybe, I would never have peace. Guess that’s the price for being the first of a species.

Yet, love didn’t make me any less dark than I already am, at the depth of my being. I just had a purpose to darkness, as Caroline had purpose of her propensity to light. I would kill, brutally, ruthlessly, any threat to my family.

The girl in question nuzzled further into my chest, her arms firmly wrapped around my neck. Under other circumstances, if it had been anyone but Caroline, this would be uncomfortable, her stomach filling the gap between, however felt about the closest to familial I had ever gotten in my long undead existence. I turned my head slightly in search of the culprit of my wakening. The long waterfall of blonde on my collarbone seems to be the offender, poking me at some angles. Gently, I unhooked her arms from around my neck and pick her up, moving her into my seat for me to leave.

I paced the aisle in the front, clutching my phone in my hand. What should I do? Well first off, I couldn’t deal with this without alcohol. Second, I sent Tyler’s text to Masterman and the spy network in England to track the source. And third, I woke up Kol.

To say the least, he was less than thrilled to be woken up, though he followed me into the sitting area, which I had closed off for fear of disturbing the sleeping bears. Kol rubbed his wrist uncomfortably every couple of seconds as reminder of his chain to the Bennett witch.

“What do you need Nik?” He said, mushing his flattened hair and wiping the sleep out of his eyes. He shuffled over to the coffeemaker and the fridge and poured himself a cup, taking a blood bag out with it.  Wordlessly, I handed him the phone. Like what happened to me, fear spilled into his eyes as he read.

“What are you going to do about this?” He asked, tossing the smartphone back to me. I glared at him.

“Why do you think I’m asking you? I don’t know.” I answered sourly.

“And she just spent eight hours talking about it…. You can’t just tell her that there a threat to her life. She could go into early labor and kill the kid.” I hadn’t thought of that. Damn Kol. I ran my hand through my curls and take a swig of the bourbon I had rustled up.

“You could just kill them before they get to her.” He suggested, sipping his coffee.

“I’d have to be able to _find_ them first.” I said tiredly.

“What do you mean? Don’t you have spies all over the place?”

“But they keep moving! And there’s no pattern. The moment they get a hit on them, and actually physically get there, they are already getting another on the other side of the country!” I nearly yelled, frustrated, throwing my phone to the other side of the room.

“Temper, temper, temper, Nik.” He said, sipping on the blood bag. “I honestly think that impending fatherhood has made you soft. Think. What would the old Nik do?”

I glared at his bright impish smirk.

“I am still the very same Niklaus.” I told him coldly, before realizing what he was saying. I hadn’t “gone soft” per se. I was just showing a bit more humanity. Which of course I detested, though there was no way to stop it. What would the Nik who had tried to sacrifice Caroline do…. I had been cold and ruthless with one goal in my mind. Though my humanity switch had dimmed to nonexistence over the years, I had made it seem like I had it permanently off.

“I’d draw them out.” I said quietly, my index fingers pressed to my lips. “Use their threat as bait and slaughter them all the moment they make a move.”

Kol smiled like the devil’s advocate, and finished off the blood bag.

“So…. Do you think they are going to be upset when there’s blood all over the place?” He said, ‘they’ referring to the girls. I looked back at the door.

“Most likely.” I shared a grin with my brother. Undoubtedly, he would be joining me.

**Bonnie POV**

I jolted out of sleep as the plane roughly bounced through a particular spot of turbulence and the cuff on my wrist tugged me to the ground.

“Shit.” I muttered. Rubbing my head from where my head had been smashed onto the hard floor. I looked around, noticing the cold, empty place beside me and the tugging sensation from my wrist.

“Kol?” I called, throwing off the blanket and shakily getting up.

“Shut up.” Katherine moaned from the compartment behind me. I sighed, and stumbled to the front towards the sound of clinking glasses and the source of the pulling, grabbing the Book of Hecate and Quetsiah’s emergency manual, as I walked past. I pushed open the door to the lounge, running my fingers through my messy and tangled hair.

Kol fought a losing battle with the coffeemaker, trying to brew a second cup of Joe. Klaus looked on amused.

“Damn you. Stupid machine!” He yelled, smacking it with his hand. As if by magic, dark liquid spewed from the spout. And out onto Kol’s pajamas.

“FUCK!” Kol shouted the moment the scalding liquid hits his chest. In a split second, he just smashes the machine to bits, to halt the flow of coffee. I stepped back; protectively clutching the leather bound books to my chest ever tighter.

Kol was a sad picture. Even more sad because his large brown eyes were so blatantly crying out “help me!” I giggled a bit, and grabbed one of the monogrammed M towels from the rack, setting down the books in front of Klaus and started wiping the coffee off of his face with one hand and unbuttoning the ruined shirt with the other. Klaus smirked and sipped on a blood bag.

“You’re getting me a new one.” He said, as I tossed the ruined striped pajama shirt on the ground. Klaus took the Book of Hecate off of the table and opened it, beginning to read. Of course, the Original was fluent in _all_ those ancient languages.

“Only if I ever figure out how to work it.” Kol grumbled, throwing open the doors and stomping over to his bag, pulling out a clean shirt and jeans. He then stalked towards the bathroom. I snatched the book away from Klaus, who had stopped on the pages where Kol and I had been writing.

“Why does it say le Fay?” Klaus asked, tapping the most recent section we had added. I blushed, looking for Kol to save me from the awkward situation.

“Because, we’re magical royalty. Descended from it really” Kol said sarcastically, coming out of the bathroom pulling a shirt over his head. “And by the way, check out the bathroom.”

Klaus’s eyes widened as he pushed past Kol. And they only get bigger when he peered through the slightly opened door. He then slammed it and turned around.

“Who the hell did that?” Klaus said a bit bewildered. Kol rolled his eyes towards Damon and Elena’s compartment and then towards Elijah and Katherine’s.

“And which one of the doppelgangers left _handcuffs_ in the bathroom?” Klaus asked loudly. Rebekah threw open her door and gives her brother a loud shhhhh! Katherine and Elena just ignored him.

“Kol broke the coffeemaker.” He announced, attempting to get everyone up. Rebekah popped up under her pillow and stalked over to Kol and slapped him. He looked stunned at her for a moment, before letting her stomp past him, undoubtedly to attempt to fix his mess. Elijah rolled out of bed as well, giving his brother a stormy look before pushing past him. Katherine made an unpleasant ‘mrph!’ sound to his leaving, sticking her crazy curly head out of the compartment and giving Kol the death glare.

“So what if I left handcuffs in the bathroom?” Katherine hissed. “ _Your_ brother likes it. Something about ‘you can’t run away now Katerina’ just gets to him.” I looked up, feeling as though I was going to be stick. TMI, Katherine, TMI. “So, why can’t I have a bit of S & M? Didn’t you and Caroline do that sort of thing _all_ the time? No wonder you kept following her around like a lost puppy. I guess _Caroline_ thought it was kinky.”

Klaus turned red and Caroline angrily popped her head out of her compartment. Either Katherine knew something we all didn’t or she was pushing just the right buttons.

“We do not!” She shrieked, getting up and running to the bathroom, no doubt her usual bout of morning sickness. She slammed the door, me following her. I didn’t want to deal with the usual Mikaelson family chaos erupting from the living area. I leaned against the fogged glass door and listened to poor Caroline vomiting her guts out.

“Care?” I asked, knocking on the door. Elena stumbled towards us, and I peered around her, watching Rebekah yell at Kol.

“What?” She snapped, before making vomiting sounds again.

“You alright?” Elena sat down next to me and gave me a halfhearted, tired smile.

“I’m just peachy.” She said sarcastically.

“Hey Care?” Elena asked quietly. Caroline gave a slightly—ok extremely annoyed mhmm. “Can I borrow a bra? The one I’m wearing broke and the rest of mine are in my bags.”

Caroline threw open the door and turned back to the sink, rinsing her mouth out of vomit.

“Borrow one of Bonnie’s.” She said nonchalantly. I raised an eyebrow. Since freshman year, I had always been the smallest of our group, staying at a pitiful 34A, while Caroline and Elena, had always been the same size, eventually stopping at a 36B.

“You know that there’s no way in hell I can fit into one of her bras. Come on we’re the same size!” Elena whined. Caroline gave her a glare, turning off the faucet.

“Pregnant!” She said, stabbing a finger at her chest. “Would a D fit you?” I burst out laughing at Elena ‘o’ expression. Caroline glared at me, though the corners of her lips try and turn up in a smile. From behind Elena, her double got up, holding a red lacy thing that look more like a torture device than a one for support.

“Here.” Katherine said, heading towards the bathroom and tossing the bra to Elena. She scrunched her eyebrows together and prepared to toss it back, though the other doppelganger waved her off. “Take it. You should know by now that we’re physically identical in every possible way.” Katherine slammed the bathroom door. Elena looks at the bra before just heading back to her compartment, presumably to wake Damon and change.

I looked at Caroline. To be frank, she looked like hell. Her blonde hair was sticking out in all directions, her face was pallid and deathly pale, with her blue veins being more prominent than ever. The bags under her eyes were darker than ever and she just looked… exhausted. She often had her hands on her lower back, as though she was carrying the weight of the world. The fifth month was killing her. The witch—and scientist--in me were dying to run some tests.

“Hey Care? Can I see if you’re ok?” I asked, in the kindest tone possible. She looked at me incredulously.

“I’m fine.” She insisted, heading back to her compartment. I followed her, not before grabbing the pile of sheets and blankets from my space to fold absently.

“You don’t look fine.” I stood next to her as she attempted to fold the sheets in the small space. Her buzzing phone tumbled out.

“Shit.” She mutters, reaching down and swaying on her feet before picking up the phone and unlocking it. While she’s distracted, I pressed my hand to her forehead. She was a little cold, but seemed perfectly normal.  She looks up at me and pursed her lips, disapprovingly.

“I’m not sick.” She said absently, brushing my hand off. “And your mom’s in town.” Crap. “And back with your dad.” Shit.

My family is _not_ the best, especially when together. I had to thank the lord that my dad had been out of town when I had found Abby and brought her back to Mystic Falls. I am completely and utterly convinced he still loved her. And I’m pretty convinced, considering they conspired to put me down, that he’s seen past her vampirism. Not to mention what the witches in New Orleans had said about knowing my mother. I had to wonder if they were now “reconciled” per se.

“Where’d you hear that?” I asked her, as Care threw down her phone in one seat, while stacking sheets in the other.

“My mom… Apparently your dad has been pestering her for the past three days about when our flights getting in. I bet you’re going to be under house arrest until your thirtieth birthday.” I gave her a look. Her laugh was a bit too hoarse, a little too forced. Yup, Caroline was not feeling her best.

“You know I can’t do that.” I said, pressing the back of my hand to her forehead again. “Not unless my parents want Kol as a house guest.”

Caroline giggled at the thought, knowing Kol’s routine about as well as I did. Get up, coffee, blood, and booze, work on the grimorie, probably grab me for a quickie in the hall closet, and back to work. All of which were done sans shirt.

“He’s going to have to at least come to school with me.” I laughed, as the idiot stomped past me, his clothes once again spattered with coffee, probably courtesy of his warring siblings.

“AM NOT!” He yelled, pushing Katherine out of the bathroom.

“School’s going to be fucking hilarious.” Caroline said, slightly sarcastically as she looked down at her stomach and stored the linens in an overhead compartment. “I mean, I like to do my bulimic routine in the morning, you and Kol are probably going to blow up the Chem lab, and Rebekah and Stefan are guaranteed to cut class to go mess around in Ric’s old room.”

Ric, who I hadn’t even really noticed was there, came out of his own compartment, with a glare directed at both of us. Jeremy followed him, his deadly glare directed at me. Undoubtedly, he had heard the whole thing. A small part of me had to feel guilty, completely dumping him like this, no less for his former friend/murderer. But he had dumped me for a ghost! Jeremy, as much as I had loved him, needed to give up already.

“Not to mention, I’m supposed to be dead.” Jeremy grumbled, as he stalked back towards the bathroom. Caroline shot me a sympathetic glance, though I only gave her on of unforgiving resolve. Her blue eyes focused back on her task of cleaning. As she moved things about in her suitcase, I noticed a slight tremor in her hands. She hummed an off-key tune I couldn’t quite identify and every so often her eyes lost focus.

That’s it.

“Sit down.” I told her forcefully, and pushing her into the leather seat on the aisle. She looked at me, first confused and then angry. I reached over into my seat and grab bag I had been shoving magical stuff into for weeks. The leather bound grimories I had acquired along the way stuck out from the top.

“What the hell Bon?” She said, attempting to get up only to be pushed down again by me. I put the book on the tiny table and opened it to all my notes on Caroline’s pregnancy. Basically everything I had figured out and what the witches had told me.  So therefore… not much.

I ignored her protests and assurances and took a syringe out of my bag. Gently, I take her pallid, grayish arm in my hand and lightly pressed in, pulling the plunger up as I did so. Her crimson blood filled it, as I drew it out and squirted it into a plastic bag, which I tucked away and regarded her.

Her eyes are closed and I could barely hear her breathing. I hadn’t noticed it before, but her skin has taken on the graying color of desiccation. Caroline’s a walking corpse.

“Caroline? Caroline!” I yelled. Behind me, I heard the small whoosh of vampire speed. I don’t even have to look up to know Klaus was behind me.

“What have you done to her?” He roared, I don’t turn, instead pressing two fingers to the side of her neck. There’s a pulse there, though it’s very faint.

“I was just taking some blood.” I said quite calmly, pushing past him. I reached into an overhead compartment and pulled out a lukewarm pint of blood. Gross as it might be, I put the syringe into it and filled it, then brought it to Caroline’s neck and let it down. Klaus breathed down my neck. I kept repeating the action until the entire blood bag was drained, though Caroline still didn’t wake up, her breathing was a bit deeper and her pulse stronger.

“What’s wrong with her?” Klaus asks quietly, as I took another blood bag from the shelf. I cast a glance at the back, where Esther was yet to stir.

“I don’t know.” I said through gritted teeth.

“What did you do to your friend?” Kol asked, coming from the living room. I gave him a glare as I pressed the second plunger full of blood into Caroline’s neck.

“I was hoping you’d know.” I snapped, refilling the syringe. Kol looked at Caroline puzzled for a second.

“Is she desiccated?” He finally said, as I finished the second blood bag. Her eyes began to flutter open.

“No.” Esther said, coming out of her compartment. I glanced up to take in the well-dressed witch. Unlike the rest of us, still clad in pajamas, she wore a nice black dress with a white blazer over it and a touch of makeup. She pushed past me, and observed Caroline for several seconds. “All you did was draw some blood?” She asks. I nodded.  The Mikaelson matriarch shot her bastard son an evil look.

“Niklaus, have you been carefully watching her? Keeping her out of the sun? Making sure she rests and is getting enough blood?” She said the last part with quite a lot of emphasis, as though she was the only one who actually understood. Klaus took a sudden interest in his feet.

“I’ve been drinking my normal amount.” Caroline piped up rather weakly. “One or two bags a day.”

Esther glared at both Caroline and Klaus now, though only the former held her gaze. She sighed, reaching over to take the blood sample from me.  She held it up into the light, and then pocketed it.

“I have a theory. Your baby isn’t human.” She said tiredly. Caroline looked appalled while Klaus looked angry. “Not to mean he’s a monster, he’s most likely undead.”

I’m confused.

“Then why is the child even able to be birthed?” I blurted out. “If it’s immortal, it should stay a fetus.”

“And that’s where the facts stop and the theorizing starts. I think that the boy needs blood… And since your wife was limiting her blood intake even before she started carrying your child, he’s feeding off of her blood as well as everything she drinks. She’s starving.”

Poor Caroline. She looked near tears, and wouldn’t meet any of our eyes, instead looking down at her stomach, sniffling. Klaus looked enraged, his face scarlet and his eyes constantly verging on yellow. At his mother, at himself, but seemingly the most, at Caroline. Esther walked away, telling us she was going to analyze it later and ordering Caroline on bed rest the moment we got home, while Kol and I slowly stepped away, waiting for Klaus to erupt. Yet he didn’t. He was silently angry, just kept handing Caroline blood bag after blood bag.

They were sad. All of us were sad. I had tried to be happy last night choosing a prom dress, but honestly? I’d rather sit at home and eat ice cream than go to another dance. Dances meant something would go wrong. Dances could mean death. They always led to destruction.

Kol was sad too. Confused more like it. He didn’t know how to explain anything that was going on and for once everyone was looking at him for the answers. That used to be me. And I hated it.

I had hated my whole life. And somehow in all this chaos, I had grown not to anymore.

Though going back to the source of all that, I had to question if it was the place or me that had caused it.

I thought back to how we all had been, trapped, without even knowing it, in the tiny town. I had let my anger at everything: my two best friends, numerous males who never looked at me twice, my mother, my father, even at times, my grandmother. Caroline, had let her jealously of Elena rule her, letting her become, as much as I hate to say it, vain, bitchy, and petty. Or as she has coined herself, weak. Elena, the last of our threesome, had let herself just… be there. Causing trouble and acting innocent. Even in her early days of being a vampire, her “self-sacrificing” nature had only hurt others.

Mystic Falls, though it would always be our home, had stewed our vices to lead to our prospective demises. I only hoped that our return wouldn’t prove as fatal.

*Bound By Blood*

**Klaus POV**

How could she? How could I have not noticed?

She was asleep again. After going through seven blood bags, the last three only going down with my excessive force, she looked reasonably better. The gray tint that her skin had taken was almost gone and she breathed with ease. Still, she was sick.

I hadn’t really noticed her lack of consumption of blood. Ever. Come to think of it, aside from the two times she had fed on me, before this trip I hadn’t ever seen her actually feed. And _never_ had I seen her feed on a human.

So maybe she had been starving herself without even knowing it. But, it was practically impossible, every baby vampire lost control. At least, everyone I had met… Until Caroline.

I guess her basic human trait of “control freak” had only been amplified as a vampire. And to areas that she was so desperate to hide, to make just a small disability. Vampirism was something that she both loved and hated.

It was my fault. I let her do this. I had been weak, distracted, and not focused what I should have been. Instead of making sure that not another thing went wrong with Caroline, I was chasing ghosts across Europe.

I was not good enough for her. I wasn’t good for her. I loved her, but I didn’t love her enough. Caroline deserved to be worshipped, have every second of her day filled with her every want fulfilled.

I didn’t deserve to even propose to her. And I certainly didn’t deserve to have her love.

She mumbled in her sleep, something sounding like “stop kicking.” I pressed a hand to her stomach, to feel the strong movement of my son. I smiled slightly.

He’s a fighter, no doubt. Been through hell and back, with poison in his mother, claws in his side, and starvation of the pair, he was alive and kicking.

I shouldn’t be surprised; he is my son, after all. Born to be a survivor.

I would just have to be more careful. And by that, I meant there was no way in hell I was letting her go to Prom.

And of course, that didn’t sit too well with her.

“No!” She said loudly, stubbornly crossing her arms over her chest like a petulant child. I had only just woken her and in a soft, calm voice I told her that Prom would be too dangerous for her, in her present condition. “You’re being melodramatic, Klaus.” She stood up, not even swaying and stomped towards the back, with her bag in hand. I followed her.

“Listen to reason love!” I called after her. She glared at me and slammed the door to the bathroom. I jiggled the knob to find it locked.

“ _You_ listen to reason!” She yelled. I pounded on the door again. “I am not missing the event I have been waiting for since I was eight years old just because I’m a little tired!” I resisted the urge to pound my head against the glass. Why was she so damn stubborn?

Kol sniggered from his seat. I gave him the death glare. And straightened up.

“Caroline, you are not going.” I told her surprisingly firmly. Silence. I leaned against the door to listen, on to have it roughly pulled open. Nearly smashing my head into the tile, I looked at Caroline’s shoes. Sandals to be specific. I picked myself up to look at her.

Flames danced in her eyes and her hands sat on her hips. She wore a red satin blouse and a white skirt that ended just before her knees. And then she slapped me.

It hurt too. I was honestly surprised at the amount of strength she put into it, surely leaving a red hand shaped mark on my face.

“Don’t tell me what to do Niklaus Mikaelson.” She snarled, before marching to the front, probably to complain about my “medieval” treatment of her.

“Ohhhhhh full name.” Kol laughed, lounging across my two seats. I glowered at him, and shoved him to ground.

“Shut up, witch boy.” I growled at him. He gave me a threatening glare, on par with mine.

“Shut up yourself, _Niklaus Mikaelson._ ”

Looking back on it; kicking my brother who in turn gave me an extremely painful aneurysm was against my better judgment. Though it _did_ lead to us ripping Elijah’s jacket as he tried to pry us apart, which in retrospect, was almost worth the temporarily broken collar bone.

Caroline was still furious with me, shooting me nasty looks as the plane banked and she whispered into Bonnie’s ear. The witch shot me disgusted looks as well.

The Ronald Reagan International Airport had a private terminal, mainly used by foreign dignitaries. Washington DC had always been a favorite city of mine. So much political turmoil in such a small area. However, in the States, I couldn’t exactly have customs meet me on the tarmac, though the terminal was a rather quick station, one that was not nearly as clogged as the commercial one, though Damon and I still had to compel them to believe that checked the ‘raised dead’, who of course did not have passports, or even valid records.  

The ride back was _extremely_ uncomfortable. Caroline had insisted on taking the other town car, taking the other girls with her, saying that they would be back ‘later.’ Probably picking up those blasted Prom dresses. My brothers and I were then left to the unpleasant task of unpacking the collection of clothes and things that had been accumulated in a mere seven weeks.

And it wasn’t just the girl that had accumulated an extreme amount of stuff.

“Why didn’t you just leave the art where you painted it?” Kol groaned.

“Why didn’t you leave your grimories where you found them?” I mimicked, taking a wrapped canvas from Kol and handed him a stack of leather bound books.

I checked each of the ten paintings that had been carefully wrapped in the crate. Only one had been damaged, and surprisingly, it was ‘fixable.’

I lugged each of them to my studio, on the first floor and left them there, completely covered, though the damaged one is set on an easel rather than on the floor. I threw the burlap cloth aside and examine the damages.

The paint hadn’t dried as quickly as I would of liked, and given the long flight and turbulence, it had smeared. It was an abstract work to begin with, the only distinct shape the figure of a woman heavy with child, the interior completely white though strongly outlined in black. The colors moved around it however, making it look like the only point of calm in the painting. The damage had caused a single red strip to slash across her body and run, looking like blood. Come to think of it, in the light, it was rather pretty in my usual dark and twisted way.

However, it looked right now to be a threat to the life of Caroline and the child. That or a portent to their coming endangerment.

I reached into the messy cabinet next to the easel and pulled out a palette and a tube of white paint, clumsily squeezing it out onto it. I then select a brush from a glass vase on the fireplace and pressed it to the paint then to the canvas.

The white paint does completely cancel out the vibrant red but rather gives it a pink undertone. I frowned.

Well, this was abstract art after all.

Rummaging in the paint cabinet again, I pulled out a sunny yellow, making it just barely noticeable, a few shades darker than cream and weave it into the pink scape. Yellow for light, pink for motherhood. Given the violent colors around it, it still gave the desired calming effect.

Still, something was missing.

Again I searched in the cabinet, eventually spying the pale baby blue I wanted on the highest shelf. I add that too, with delicate brush strokes, mostly centered on the stomach.

There.

It actually looked better now, than before.

The woman, surrounded by various shades of black, red, purple, was tranquil. Her focus was not on the warring colors around her, but solely on her child. And her colors—her feelings were calm, motherly, safe.

I put the brush down and turned around to unpack the other nine paintings.

The first was done in Miami, a dark and dank cityscape with the ocean seeming the only “good” place there.

The second was one of the boat, which I had started in Miami and finished in New Orleans. Kol was laughing, his hair being tousled in the spray of the speed of the boat. Bonnie smiled up at him while she conversed with Caroline. She was off to the side, her skin shining with sunscreen and her gorgeous hair splaying across her face in the wind. They were the only figures visible in the piece; rather everything else was covered in a haze of spray.

The third was by far my favorite, besides the one I had recently completed. I had almost gone Jackson Pollock on it, done after we had raised the dead. I had been confused and angry, painting the figures and everything there with thick bold strokes. I had only used red and black, with tones of gray.

I didn’t get to finish unpacking, for just as I was admiring my work on “The Dead Walk,” the large doors in the foyer swung open. I heard the creak and the stomping of heels and chattering of high voices.

The women were _finally_ back.

“Nik!” Rebekah yelled. I sighed and set down the art gently on a waiting easel. I then walked deeper into the house and to the bar. I knew Rebekah well enough to realize what her calling me means. I was in no way helping with her fifty thousand shopping bags. Sure enough, I was yelled for again.

“Come help with the bags!” Caroline shouted. I heard the thump of heavy packages being dropped on the floor. I waited for a moment, drinking a glass of bourbon and slowly shuffled to the foyer.

My sister had left her packages next to the door, no doubt already running off to have a quickie with Stefan. Caroline however kept her shopping on her arms. Dark circles had again formed under her eyes and though her color was still normal, she looked just as sick as before. She smiled at me, a weak tired one, slightly swaying in her heels.

I take a few steps before her already recognizing something was wrong… again.

“Klaus?” She said weakly. I don’t move, just simply watch in slow motion as she let go of her bags and her eyes rolled back into her skull.

I rushed towards her, but I don’t get there in time. I was once again weak, only able to watch as Caroline crumbled to the floor, lifeless.

 

**I might be evil…  Sorry for the cliffie!!!**

**Translation of the summoning Spell:**

**I call out as blood of Quetsiah**

**The spirits no longer hold answers**

**Silas has risen**

**Please, please, please review guys! Three pretty major events happened and I _need_  to know if they were good or not!**


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